COTABATO, Philippines: Muslim guerrillas returned to the Philippine government Wednesday at least 16 assault firearms of police anti-terror commandos who were killed in what the insurgents say was a “misencounter” that has stalled a new peace deal.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader Rasid Ladiasan said the handover of the firearms to government officials in a military camp in the south was meant to show the group “want peace.” A cellphone was also given back and at least one more rifle from the slain policemen will be returned later, he said.
President Benigno Aquino III has asked the rebels to return the slain commandos’ weapons and help government forces hunt down terror suspects in the south.
“We want to show our sincerity and our commitment to the peace process,” Ladiasan said by phone. “The police and military are no longer our enemies. There has been no fighting for three years, but what happened was really unfortunate and beyond our control.”
“In war, we all lose,” MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said during a ceremony for the return of the firearms.
Presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles said the MILF's decision to return the firearms showed that the 11,000-strong group's leaders have control over their fighters, who traditionally don’t return weapons they seize in gunbattles.
“It’s a show of good faith,” Deles said.
The police commandos reportedly killed one of Southeast Asia’s most wanted terror suspects, Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, in a Jan. 25 raid in the marshy outskirts of southern Mamasapano town. But as they withdrew, the policemen got entangled in two gunbattles with MILF fighters and other armed groups in the far-flung region, killing 44 of the commandos.
At least 18 Muslim rebels and three villagers were killed, police said.
The huge police casualty toll — the government’s biggest single-day combat loss in recent memory — angered many, including lawmakers, who have suspended committee hearings on a proposed law that will create a more powerful autonomous region for minority Muslims in the south under a peace deal signed by the government and the Moro rebels last year.
But a cease-fire under the peace deal actually worked to prevent more casualties when foreign and Filipino peacekeepers intervened and managed to ease the fierce Mamasapano clashes. They also arranged the safe retrieval of the slain commandos from the two scenes of the gunbattles after the clashes, officials said.
The United States, Russia, Australia and several other governments have renewed their support to the peace process in the south and have also condoled with the families of the slain commandos.
Police commanders who oversaw the anti-terror raid have acknowledged in congressional hearings that they did not effectively notify the Moro rebels about the raid as required under the cease-fire to prevent accidental clashes.
A police commander involved in the assault also has acknowledged in a congressional inquiry that he and other police officials did not notify the military and an acting national police chief before the assault was launched. That prevented the military from rapidly providing combat support to the commandos who were surrounded by an overwhelming number of insurgents.
Aquino has suggested that the anti-terror raid should have been aborted when the planned night assault unraveled not according to plan.
Peace commitment: Philippines' MILF group returns 16 guns of slain cops
Peace commitment: Philippines' MILF group returns 16 guns of slain cops
EU leaders work into the night to ease Belgian fears of Russian retaliation over a loan to Ukraine
BRUSSELS: European Union leaders worked into the night on Thursday, seeking to reassure Belgium that they would provide guarantees to protect it from Russian retaliation if it backs a massive loan for Ukraine. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile pleaded for a quick decision to keep Ukraine afloat in the new year.
At a summit in Brussels with high stakes for both the EU and Ukraine, leaders of the 27-nation bloc discussed how best to use tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to underwrite a loan to meet Ukraine’s military and financial needs over the next two years.
The bulk of the assets — some 193 billion euros as of September — are held in the Brussels-based financial clearing house Euroclear. Russia’s Central Bank launched a lawsuit against Euroclear last week.
“Give me a parachute and we’ll all jump together,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told lawmakers ahead of the summit. “If we have confidence in the parachute that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Belgian concerns over Russian pressure
Belgium fears that Russia will strike back and wants the bloc to borrow the money on international markets. It says frozen assets held in other European countries should be thrown into the pot as well, and that its partners should guarantee that Euroclear will have the funds it needs should it come under legal attack.
An estimated 25 billion euros in Russian assets are frozen in banks and financial institutions in other EU countries, including France, Germany and Luxembourg.
The Russian Central Bank’s lawsuit ramped up pressure on Belgium and its EU partners ahead of the summit.
The “reparations loan” plan would see the EU lend 90 billion euros to Ukraine. Countries like the United Kingdom, which said Thursday it is prepared to share the risk, as well as Canada and Norway would help make up any shortfall.
Russia’s claim to the assets would still stand, but the assets would remain locked away at least until the Kremlin ends its war on Ukraine and pays for the massive damage it caused.
In mapping out the loan plan, the European Commission set up safeguards to protect Belgium, but De Wever remained unconvinced and EU envoys were working late on Thursday to address his concerns.
Zelensky describes it as a moral question
Soon after arriving in Brussels, the Ukrainian president sat down with the Belgian prime minister to make his case for freeing up the frozen funds. The war-ravaged country is at risk of bankruptcy and needs new money by spring.
“Ukraine has the right to this money because Russia is destroying us, and to use these assets against these attacks is absolutely just,” Zelensky told a news conference.
In an appeal to Belgian citizens who share their leader’s worries about retaliation, Zelensky said: “One can fear certain legal steps in courts from the Russian Federation, but it’s not as scary as when Russia is at your borders.”
“So while Ukraine is defending Europe, you must help Ukraine,” he said.
Allies maintain support for Ukraine
Whatever method they use, the leaders have pledged to meet most of Ukraine’s needs in 2026 and 2027. The International Monetary Fund estimates that would amount to 137 billion euros .
“We have to find a solution today,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters. EU Council President António Costa, who is chairing the meeting, vowed to keep leaders negotiating until an agreement is reached, even if it takes days.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it was a case of sending “either money today or blood tomorrow” to help Ukraine.
If enough countries object, the plan could be blocked. There is no majority support for a plan B of raising the funds on international markets, although that too was being discussed at the summit.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he hopes Belgium’s concerns can be addressed.
“The reactions of the Russian president in recent hours show how necessary this is. In my view, this is indeed the only option. We are basically faced with the choice of using European debt or Russian assets for Ukraine, and my opinion is clear: We must use the Russian assets.”
Hungary and Slovakia oppose a reparations loan. Apart from Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Malta are also undecided.
“I would not like a European Union in war,” said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who sees himself as a peacemaker. He’s also Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe. “To give money means war.”
Orbán described the loan plan as a “dead end.”
High stakes for the EU
The outcome of the summit has significant ramifications for Europe’s place in negotiations to end the war. The United States wants assurances that the Europeans are intent on supporting Ukraine financially and backing it militarily — even as negotiations to end the war drag on without substantial results.
The loan plan in particular also poses important challenges to the way the bloc goes about its business. Should a two-thirds majority of EU leaders decide to impose the scheme on Belgium, which has most to lose, the impact on decision-making in Europe would be profound.
The EU depends on consensus, and finding voting majorities and avoiding vetoes in the future could become infinitely more complex if one of the EU’s founding members is forced to weather an attack on its interests by its very own partners.
De Wever too must weigh whether the cost of holding out against a majority is worth the hit his government’s credibility would take in Europe.
Whatever is decided, the process does not end at this summit. Legal experts would have to convert any political deal into a workable agreement, and some national parliaments may have to weigh in before the loan money could start flowing to Ukraine.
