No closure over ‘real role’ of US in Mamasapano—Bayan

AFTER President Benigno Aquino III put an end to “alternative versions” surrounding the botched Mamasapano mission, a militant group on Thursday said it was not convinced that the United States had no role in the police operation that killed international terrorist Zulkifi bin Hir alias Marwan.

Citing a video which showed a dead and unidentified Caucasian male in the aftermath of the bloody clash, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said Aquino did not touch on the US’ involvement in the incident, which caused the death of 44 elite commandos of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force (SAF).

“There has been no closure insofar as the real role of the US is concerned. The information coming out showed that the US was directing the botched Mamasapano ops that resulted in the death of the SAF (Special Action Force) 44,” Reyes said.

“The video that recently surfaced tends to belie claims made by the US embassy and the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) regarding the combat involvement of the US,” he added.

The US embassy in Manila on Tuesday issued a statement denying reports stemming from the eight-minute video footage that an American was allegedly killed in the Mamasapano incident.

“There were no US service member casualties. The operation was planned and executed by Philippine authorities,” US Embassy spokesman Kurt Hoyer said in a statement.

Former SAF commander Getulio Napeñas also maintained that no foreigner participated in the operation, saying that the Caucasian-looking man on the video might be PO2 Romeo Cempron.

READ: No American personnel killed in Mamasapano, says US | Ex-SAF chief: No foreigner participated or died in Mamasapano

After revealing in a multimedia forum with the Inquirer that there were “alternative versions” surrounding the Mamasapano clash, President Aquino himself on Thursday said speculations that the SAF did not kill Marwan were “baseless.” Yuji Vincent Gonzales

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