Arroyo orders probe into Abu Sayyaf-military links

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, AUG. 10 The Phillipine President, Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has ordered an inquiry into claims that senior military officers helped in the escape of Abu Sayyaf rebels and hostages held by them from Basilan island on June 2.

Stung by the allegations, which come as a major embarrassment for the Government, Ms. Arroyo has asked the Defence Secretary, Gen. Angelo Reyes, to probe the allegations made by a Christian priest, Mr. Cirilo Nacorda.

According to Mr. Nacorda, who narrowly escaped from the Abu Sayyaf when they occupied his church and an adjoining hospital in the Basilan town of Lamitan, he had evidence against five military officers, including Army First Division Commander, Brigadier-General Romeo Dominguez, that they helped the Abu Sayyaf rebels flee. (Seventeen Filipinos and three American nationals were snatched by the Abu Sayyaf from an upmarket resort on May 27. The Abu Sayyaf claim to have executed one of the Americans, but there is no corroboration of this claim).

The Abu Sayyaf rebels, along with their hostages, found themselves surrounded by security personnel. However, according to the version presented by Mr. Nacorda, the military withdrew their cordon from the rear of the hospital, allowing the Abu Sayyaf fighters and select hostages to flee.

``We no longer suspect, we believe that there was connivance....we have strong and hard evidence. The people will talk and I am collecting strong sworn statements to prove this,'' Mr. Nacorda was quoted as saying.

Brig-Gen. Dominguez, for his part, has described the statements made by Mr. Nacorda as ``incredible''. According to the military officer, there was no truth in what the priest had said.

``....I don't know how he was able to say those things. I do not know what his motives are....this is my first time to be accused like this. I only live a simple life,'' he added.

Mr. Nacorda has also gone on record to state that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was also working on a ``conspiracy'' angle between certain military officials and the Abu Sayyaf.

``FBI agents approached me several times, until I finally accepted their invitation. We met last on July 3 at the U.S. Embassy, and I was surprised to see the amount of information they had gathered on the possible military conspiracy,'' he said.

``They (FBI agents) revealed to me their information, I told them my story,'' Mr. Nacorda said, adding that when he finished his story, one of the operative said their own information had been confirmed.

At a time, when the Philippine President, has repeatedly stated that she will ``crush'' the Abu Sayyaf, the allegations of conspiracy are particularly embarrassing for Ms. Arroyo.

The President has done well to order an inquiry into the charges, but it remains to be seen whether this administrative probe will be sufficient to ferret out the truth.

Earlier, too, there had been allegations that officials had been taking a ``share'' of the ransom proceeds paid to the Abu Sayyaf, but the current allegations are the most specific till date.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Enron under scrutiny after blast in plant