MILF complains about cease-fire violation by Philippine military

The separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Tuesday filed complaint against the Philippine military for alleged violations of cease-fire.

Von Al-Haq, chairman of the MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), forwarded the complaint to his counterpart in the Philippine government, Brig. Gen. Edgardo Gurrea, the MILF said in its web site.

In the complaint, Al-Haq sought the relief of Lt. Col. Roseller Murillo, commanding officer of the Army's 64th Infantry Battalion, whom they accused of sabotaging the ongoing peace process between the MILF and government.

The complaint mentioned the government troops' several firings at MILF positions in October and early November. Murillo was the one responsible for the violations of cease-fire, it added.

The MILF also complained about the military's putting up of a command post in Maguindanao, a province on Mindanao Island, without the prior consent of the MILF-CCCH and the International Monitoring Team which is overseeing the implementation of the truce.

The Philippine government officials have no comment on the complaint so far.

Formal peace negotiations between the MILF and the government hit the impasse in September over the substantive issue on ancestral domain of the southern Muslim autonomous region. The Philippine government rejected proposals by the MILF to include certain areas in the planned expanded Autonomous Region on Muslim Mindanao.

Source: Xinhua