MILF’s Iqbal shows up at House Mamasapano probe

Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal  INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal attended the third day of the House of Representatives Mamasapano probe Wednesday.

Iqbal failed to attend Tuesday’s hearing, which resumed almost two months after its indefinite suspension since Feb. 11.

At the hearing’s resumption, Davao City Representative Karlo Nograles asked the government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer about the real name that Iqbal uses in his passports.

 
BACKSTORY: Iqbal’s alleged use of aliases violates law – solon

Iqbal is accused of using different names in his passports, especially after the Bureau of Immigration said the name Mohagher Iqbal is not in its travel records.

Speculations were also rife that Iqbal is actually a Malaysian citizen. Iqbal has denied the allegation.

Nograles then said the use of aliases violated the Revised Penal Code and the Anti-alias law which prohibit the use of pseudonyms in public documents.

Ferrer declined to answer the question, saying it should be directed to Iqbal.

The chamber is conducting its investigation on the botched Jan. 25 antiterror raid that succeeded in killing international terrorist Zulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan but ended in the deaths of 44 SAF commandos, 18 MILF fighters and five civilians.

The first hearing was described as a circus after outraged lawmakers tried to upstage one another in an emotional debate.

House leaders suspended the hearings pending the results of investigations by the police and the Senate on the operation to take down international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, bomb-maker Abdul Basit Usman and another suspect.

The family members of the slain SAF commandos attended the hearing as part of the audience.

The botched January 25 antiterror raid succeeded in killing Marwan but ended in the deaths of 44 SAF commandos, 18 MILF fighters and five civilians.

BACKSTORY: Families of slain SAF men attend as House resumes Mamasapano probe

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