MILF ordered $2 million in arms from North Korea

ABS-CBNNews.com ^ | 3/13/03 | Fernan Marasigan

[Angelus Errare]

AFP officials say MILF ordered $2-M in arms from Nokor spy

By FERNAN MARASIGAN TODAY Reporter

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has ordered more than $2-million worth of armaments and sophisticated weapons from an alleged North Korean intelligence officer, as part of rebel plan to launch an all-out war against the government, military officials said Thursday.

The officials said the rebels also plan to purchase minisubmarines to augment its fighting capability.

These orders and plans were revealed, the military added, by documents seized from the house of MILF chairman Salamat Hashim, when the military overran the rebel camp in Buliok Complex in Pikit. North Cotabato. Copies of the documents were released to mediamen by the Armed Forces Thursday.

Among the documents seized by the Marines included receipts and purchase orders allegedly signed by Gadzali Jafaar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, a certain Rim Jyu Do and a certain HS Ahmmad.

Rim is said to be a ranking North Korean intelligence officer, who is also allegedly engaged in arms-smuggling.

Documents released by the military showed that Jaafar made the payment in the form of checks with No. 096301 amounting to $400,000; and No. 09632 amounting to $800,000 -- both inclusive of freight services for the armaments.

Besides this, the military also discovered a receipt in the amount of $1 million that serves as a partial payment for the purchase of military hardware amounting to $2,196,250.

Salamat, according to the documents, approved Jaafar’s memorandum for the MILF’s order to Rim for the procurement of millions of rounds of ammunition for M30 machineguns; 10,000 pieces of T65K2 M-16 rifles; 200 pieces of T75 assault machineguns, one million rounds of T65K2 armored pricing bullets; 250,000 rounds of tracer bullets for M-16 rifles and 250,000 rounds of M-16 ammunition for training; and 1,000 different types of handgrenades.

“As far as arms acquisition is concerned, the MILF funneled several millions for their impending procurement of military hardware and war materiél, such as individual automatic weapons, crew-served weapons, various types of hand grenades and explosives and midget submarines,” Armed Forces spokesman Col. Essel Soriano told a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo Thursday afternoon.

Soriano said the military is trying to verify if the weapons ordered by Jaafar have been delivered to the rebels.

The same document disclosed that the MILF has set five objectives in its offensive operations -- all-out war against government forces through simultaneous and relentless attacks; massive sabotage operations; ambush of military/police checkpoints; conduct of checkpoints and hostaging; and arms landing.

“Recovered documents revealed that the MILF had been strengthening its military arm by conducting basic military trainings and specialization courses to recruit new members,” Soriano said.

“This only proves that the MILF is indeed preparing for war and using the talks on peace agreement as cover,” Soriano added.

The Armed Forces and the defense department are preparing documents for the filing of charges against Salamat and his key lieutenants for arms smuggling and other illegal activities.

Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya, chief of the Armed Forces Southern Command, said Thursday that the evidence from Buliok complex shows the MILF is no different from the Abu Sayyaf.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol said he and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte are among the MILF’s targets for assassination.

“They [MILF] still continue to profess that they are acting like a rebel group. But they have been showing us, so far, that they are already engaged in terroristic activities which victimize innocent civilians,” Abaya told Today.

Abaya declined to comment whether it is time to declare the MILF as a terrorist organization: “I’m not the one who should give that tag-terrorist,” noting that the New People’s Army (NPA) was declared a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by Europe and America.

“Since we do not have yet an antiterrorism bill, there will be a question on what would a terrorist tag on the MILF mean,” he said.

[Angelus Errare]

This is significant because MILF is one of two Filippino al-Qaeda affilates (the other being Abu Sayyaf). They were responsible for the suicide bombing at Davao City airport that killed one American and maintain al-Qaeda training facilities. If North Korea is selling them advanced weaponry, they would presumably be willing to the same for other al-Qaeda affiliates.

That being said, it appears the Axis of Evil is far more of a real axis than any of the president's critics dared to suspect. Once again Bush's foresight appears to have been correct, much to the chagrin of the Democrats.

[ExpandNATO]

Perhaps our darling foreign policy experts would like to explain one more time how religious fundamentalist cannot cooperate with militant atheists.

[Cosmo]

I'm sorry, but ever since I saw American Pie, "MILF" has become an acronym for one thing and one thing only....

[Stopislamnow]

We need the adults in charge for the next 20 years.

I fear for my life if dems get back in charge.

[Cogadh na Sith]

"MILF".... Heh heh heh heh.

[Angelus Errare]

Ping

[Mr. Mojo]

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)

Hmmm...I wonder what they're a front for?

[swarthyguy]

Here's an hmmmmmm item from Jang.com Pakistan


Two big Philippine rebel groups agree to cooperate

MANILA: The Philippines' two biggest rebel groups have agreed to help each other fight the government but have not combined their forces for joint attacks, a senior rebel leader said on Monday.

Communist spokesman Gregorio Rosal, in a radio interview, also warned that US troops would be "legitimate targets" if they moved into strongholds of the leftist New People's Army (NPA) while training Philippine soldiers in counter-terrorism. The NPA, which is fighting for a Marxist state, and the Moro Islamic Libration Front (MILF), the country's biggest Muslim separatist group, each have about 12,000 fighters.

The United States has blacklisted the Marxist group as a terrorist organisation. Rosal said the NPA and the MILF had not reached the stage of coordinated attacks but they were cooperating in training and in protecting each other's fighters if attacked. "The field commanders also work with each other. If one is on the retreat then the other shelters him," he said.

"I don't know of any discussions to hold joint operations. That is a little difficult. That is still in the planning stage." Some officials have suggested a bombing on March 4 that killed 21 people in the southern city of Davao might have been a joint operation by the groups. The Philippines military has in the past accused the two groups of working together but this is the first confirmation of cooperation from a senior rebel official.

The communist rebels operate in small pockets all over the Philippines including in the south, where the MILF is "ACT OF AGGRESSION". Prosecutors have filed murder charges against Muslim rebel chief Hashim Salamat and 150 of his men for the recent Davao bombing.

Officials said they expected arrest warrants to be issued shortly. "The American aggressors will be legitimate targets of our military operation if they enter guerrilla zones in any part of Luzon and the Visayas," he said. Luzon, in the north, is the main Philippine island and the Visayas are a cluster of islands in the central region. The presidential palace said it was forwarding a recommendation by provincial governors to hold joint training on Mindoro island, off Luzon, to military planners finalising details of the exercise.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

"MILF".... Heh heh heh heh.

Precisely my response as well.

[Dog]

Hmmmmmm.

[Jacob Kell]

"Salamat, according to the documents, approved Jaafar’s memorandum for the MILF’s order to Rim for the procurement of millions of rounds of ammunition for M30 machineguns; 10,000 pieces of T65K2 M-16 rifles; 200 pieces of T75 assault machineguns, one million rounds of T65K2 armored pricing bullets; 250,000 rounds of tracer bullets for M-16 rifles and 250,000 rounds of M-16 ammunition for training; and 1,000 different types of handgrenades."

What are M30 machineguns, T75 assault machineguns. and where does North Korea get M16 rifles?

[Angelus Errare]

Isn't the NPA a North Korean front organization? I've also heard that North Korea has also provided support for the Nepalese and Indian communists.

[swarthyguy]

Don't know. As far as Indian/Nepali commies, the convention seems to be that a combination of Chinese and Pakistani materiel is being provided.

Considering the closeness of the NK/Paki/Chinese relationship, sounds logical.

[Earl B.]

I swear I thought it said "Moronic Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)."

And MILF is just an unfortunate acronym. Google it if you dare.

[aristeides]

I wonder how the MILF got the $2 million.

[Angelus Errare]

I figured as much.

My understanding was that NK did the wet work for the Chinese as liasions with the Indian and Nepali orgs so as to ensure that Chicom's "good name" was not besmirched by their involvement with the insurgencies.

[swarthyguy]

Well, NK thru Burma, Chinese thru Tibet and the ISI thru Bangladesh.

Remember, the Indian Airlines plane hijacked in 1999 from Kathmandu ( and considered by some a dry run for the hijack tactics of 9/11 ) was allegedly done with the help of ISI assets in Nepal.

[Angelus Errare]

Appreciate the clarification.

And wasn't the whole purpose of the Kathmandu hijacking to free the guy who later ended up killing Daniel Pearl, as well as a lot of other high-ranking Pakistani al-Qaeda affiliate leaders who'd been busted by India?

[swarthyguy]

Two names spring to mind. Omar Sheikh, currently in jail and Maulana Massod Azhar, reputed to be the intellectual informal head of a banned terror group in Pakistan that's rreconstituted under a new name and under the leadership of his son.

read that a couple of days ago, forget the source.

[IYAS9YAS]

I was just going to say the same thing...;^)