Moro rebel group hits ABS-CBN for ‘biased documentary’

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Sunday issued a statement denouncing television network ABS-CBN for "deliberately allowing itself…to defile the good name and image of the MILF." A certain Khaled Musa, who claimed to be the deputy chairman of MILF’s committee on information, criticized the network for "repeatedly showing the documentary ‘9/11: The Philippine Connections’" that links the MILF to the al-Qaeda and Jema’ah Islamiyah organizations. There was no immediate comment from ABS-CBN. Attempts to contact network officials failed. Musa said the MILF is a "revolutionary movement with a clear political agenda," which has no links to terrorist organizations. He called on ABS-CBN "to observe ethics of good journalism and to be fair to everybody and to the MILF by not subjecting it to trial by publicity." Musa said ABS-CBN should give the MILF the opportunity to air its side especially after the network "repeatedly" aired the documentary. "9/11: The Philippine Connections," which is anchored by ABS-CBN vice president Maria Ressa, was aired several times last month to mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. "Ressa, acting like a mega-expert on global terrorism, linked the MILF to al-Qaeda and Jema’ah Islamiyah as if she were (a) personal witness to these alleged connections and plots to commit acts of terrorism," Musa said in a news article that came out on the MILF’s website luwaran.com. Musa said "nobody knew" al-Qaeda and the Jema’ah Islamiyah before the September 11, 2001, attacks. He said the MILF was already in existence when alleged terrorist leader Osama bin Laden "was still a baby." In the documentary Ressa pointed to Jamal Mohammad Khalifa, the brother-in-law of bin Laden, as the principal link between the MILF and al-Qaeda. Musa said Jema’ah Islamiyah members might have been in Mindanao, "but what is important is that the MILF has no official tie-up with this group, or if it had some contacts, the MILF does not know they are ‘JI terrorists’." -GMANews.TV GMANews.TV is the official website of the news and public affairs department of GMA Network, the rival network of ABS-CBN.