An association of Islamic nations called on Monday for an immediate halt to clashes between government troops and Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines that have killed at least 12 people and displaced more than 8,000 villagers. The secretary-general of the 47-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, appealed to the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front to disengage their forces and take steps to avoid more violence, according to AP. He urged them to abide by the provisions of a 1996 peace accord, which the OIC helped broker, and resume negotiations to fully implement it. Ihsanoglu will consult with the two sides about the creation of «a small military monitoring mission» which would help prevent any more violence, according to an OIC statement. Philippine officials, however, said the recent military assaults were directed against MNLF commander Habier Malik and his men, and not against the rebel group, and government forces would continue to hunt him down to bring him to justice. «What's going on now is a punitive action by the government on Malik and his men who committed criminal acts,» Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said. «The action is not against the MNLF. We have a peace accord with them and that stays,» Seguis told The Associated Press. The Philippine government will provide the OIC with details of how the clashes started, he said. Malik's group launched mortar attacks that hit two marine camps and houses near Jolo's Panamao's townhall late Friday to Saturday, killing two marines and a child, the military said. Fearing more attacks from Malik, a spiritual leader with 300-500 armed followers, the military deployed up to 3,000 troops and marines, backed by helicopter gunships, to seize Malik's Panamao camp over the weekend but failed to capture him, military spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said. Troops captured another MNLF encampment in nearby Talipao town Sunday, he said, then caught up with a small pocket of Malik's men Monday in a Panamao village, setting off a brief clash that killed one rebel, Bacarro said, adding a total of nine guerrillas have been killed. «We're still running after him for these totally unprovoked attacks that have hurt civilians,» military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said by telephone. Malik has been suspected of providing sanctuary to al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and Indonesian terror suspects who have been on the run from a massive U.S.-backed offensive that started in August, Esperon said. It was not clear why Malik staged the attacks, but news reports quoted him as saying he wanted to avenge an incursion into an MNLF stronghold by troops pursuing Abu Sayyaf guerrillas last week. It was not immediately possible to contact Malik and his supporters for comment, because communications in Jolo are poor. Presidential adviser Jesus Dureza said about 8,000 villagers from Panamao and outlying towns have fled their homes and were being given food rations in government shelters. Security has also been bolstered in Jolo's bustling main town to prevent Malik's group from staging bombings and diversionary attacks, officials said. U.S. military civic projects, including road and school repairs, near the scene of fighting have been suspended for safety reasons, U.S. military spokesman Maj. John Redfield said. Malik captured national attention in February when he held 20 Philippine military officers for two days, demanding more benefits under a 1996 peace accord. The guerrillas released the hostages after the OIC promised to discuss the accord with MNLF representatives in Saudi Arabia later this year. The MNLF was the largest Muslim separatist group in the southern Philippines until it agreed to accept increased autonomy and signed the peace agreement with the government in September 1996. Many of its members, particularly those under Malik, refused to disarm and maintained strongholds on Jolo and nearby islands. -- SPA
