Bomber Basit Usman still in Maguindanao – MILF official

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesperson Eid Kabalu agrees with reports that Filipino bomber Basit Usman is still in Maguindanao.

“It’s only a small portion of Maguindanao, which is not under the MILF,” he said.

But Kabalu said Usman would likely be mobile now to avoid being detected or arrested.

“It would be difficult for him not to move around because of the situation,” he said.

The MILF has said it has given orders to its ground forces to find out if Usman is hiding inside its territories and arrest him.

The MILF is now on the lookout for Usman as a criminal, according to Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs.

He said that under the agreement on the formation of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (Ahjag), the MILF has been mandated “to effect the apprehension and arrest of the suspected criminal elements” within MILF areas.

Earlier, a Philippine Daily Inquirer source, who works with the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and part of a team in Central Mindanao that helped plan the assault against Zulkifli Bin Hir or Marwan, said Usman was seen in Pusaw, near Libutan in Mamasapano on February 7.

Pusaw is a known MILF area.

Kabalu said he also received a similar report from his sources in the field.

But Mohagher Iqbal, MILF peace negotiator, has said that as much as they want to arrest Usman, they do not know where he is at the moment.

The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters also denied harboring Usman.

“We are not keeping him,” Abu Misri Mama, BIFF spokesperson, said.