Zaldy Ampatuan offered to help US fight terror–WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks, the online whistle-blower, has released a 2006 cable from the United States Embassy in Manila which said that the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), multiple-murder suspect Zaldy Ampatuan, had offered to help the US “combat terrorism.”

In an April 27, 2006, cable to the Department of State, then US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney said Ampatuan had also asked the US to give “special attention” and continued support to Maguindanao province.

The one-hour meeting took place three years before the Maguindanao massacre, the worst case of political terrorism in the country that left 57 civilians dead. Members of the Ampatuan family are the main suspects.

Kenney, now the US envoy to Thailand, also furnished the Pentagon, National Security Council, the US Department of Agriculture and the Honolulu-based US Pacific Command copies of the unclassified memo.

The Ampatuans are currently detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

In his April 2006 meeting with Kenney, Zaldy Ampatuan also sought Kenney’s support in securing more World Bank funding for the region’s Land Administration Management Program.

The ARMM governor “expressed appreciation for US government assistance in the ARMM and requested the continuation—and even expansion—of these various programs,” which he said had contributed significantly to growing peace and development in the ARMM.”

It was Kenney’s view that “Governor Ampatuan’s initiative in reaching out to the embassy is a good sign that (the US-ARMM) relationship will promote further peace and development throughout Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago.”

“The high-level nature of his delegation reflects the vital importance with which ARMM officials view the role of the US government in promoting peace and development in the ARMM,” said Kenney in the memo.

The US embassy said it does not comment on supposedly leaked documents from the mission.