By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Marines will soon be deployed to a predominantly Christian city in the Philippines' majority Muslim south that was besieged by a Muslim rebel group last year amid apprehension another attack may be forthcoming.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang said Tuesday that Marines previously based in a nearby stronghold of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf are to be deployed to Zamboanga City as the anniversary of the attack by some 500 Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) gunmen approaches.
The September 13 attack - to protest a peace deal between breakaway group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government - left some 300 people dead and over 100,000 displaced.
“If you visit Zamboanga, it appears that the people still have fears. I don’t want that,” Catapang said, referring to fears of another MNLF attack. “Zamboanga residents are more comfortable with the marines' [presence].”
He assured that the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Sulu would not be left undefended as 3,000 marines and soldiers will be deployed there.
Zamboanga Mayor Climaco-Salazar had earlier urged people to remain vigilant yet calm as the anniversary approaches.
On March 27, the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro that brought to a close 17 years of negotiations and ended a decades-old armed conflict in the southern area of Mindanao - the second largest and southernmost major island in the Philippines - while granting Muslim areas greater political autonomy
MNLF leader Nur Misuari claims the agreement is a betrayal of a 1996 deal between the government and his group, has left his organization shortchanged, and granted Muslims in the region lesser autonomy. The Abu Sayyaf was originally a splinter group of the MNLF, but broke away in the early 1990s after the MNLF signed its agreement.
Philippines authorities have ordered Misuari's arrest, accusing him of ordering the siege. He has since been charged with rebellion and human rights violations.
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