MILF report: Marwan, Usman were in BIFF territory 3 kms away from MILF area - GMA News

Suspected terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Abdul Basit Usman were encamped in temporary houses at least two kilometers away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's stronghold in Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano, the MILF fact-finding report has said.

The MILF, thus, stressed in the report of its Special Investigative Commission that its members were not protecting high-value targets Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Abdul Basit Usman as alleged by critics of the rebel group and the government's peace process.

In the report, submitted to the Senate on Monday, the MILF said it, along with civilian residents in Mamasapano, "did not know that Basit Usman and Marwan were in the community."

The group noted that Marwan was with Usman's group "in the vicinity where the BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) and the break-away group of Mohammad Ali Tambako are based" at the time the Special Action Force's 84th Seaborne found and killed him.

"The house is found in Barangay Pembalkan, Mamasapano, which is more than 3 kilometers away from where the MILF combatants were living in Barangay Tukanalipao. It is not at [the] area where the MILF has presence or control," the report said.

"Note that the site where the encounter between the BIAF (Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the MILF's military component) and the 55SAC (55th Special Action Company) took place is not in Pembalkan, but about 2 kilometers away in Sitio Amilil in Tukanalipao," it added.

The MILF pointed out that "as early as 2005, Marwan, and other individuals with 'terrorist' tags, have been ordered to leave MILF camps and communities," adding that such policy "has not changed and is the very reason why the government has continued negotiating peace" with them.

The group had previously denied knowing about Marwan and Usman's presence in their area, an answer it has repeatedly given in investigations and interviews.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said they did not see any benefit in coddling Marwan.

The January 25 encounter between SAF officers and members of the MILF followed an operation where Marwan was killed.

The hours-long firefight resulted in the deaths of a total of 66 people, including 44 elite police officers, 17 MILF members, and five civilians. —NB, GMA News

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