MILITARY, MILF TRADE BARBS OVER 'SUB-STATE' / KATO PREPARES FOR THE KILL
MANILA, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011 (MANILA TIMES) Written by : WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL REPORTER - (Photo - Ameril Umbra Kato)
AMID a deadlock in peace negotiations, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have shifted battle from words to swords as officials from both camps exchanged fiery warnings over differences on the creation of a Muslim "sub-state" in Mindanao.
Reacting to "veiled" threats made by MILF Vice Chairman Ghadzali Jaafar that further delay in the negotiations could lead to more restiveness among Ameril Umbra Kato and other Muslim fighters, the AFP, through acting spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos, on Tuesday said that while they were awaiting final word from the government panel, the military was always ready for any eventuality regardless of the outcome of the peace talks.
Jaafar recently warned that if the peace talks would go nowhere, the "leaders of the Bangsamoro [Filipino Muslims] will opt for independence, which we cannot stop."
"It would not only be Ameril Umbra [Kato who would oppose the peace talks]. If the negotiations between the MILF and the [Philippine government] would drag on, it is not only Ameril Umbra that would be our problem, the problem of the MILF leadership is there are lots more [like Umbra Kato]," he said.
Jaafar added that unless the government found ways to fast-track the peace talks "so as to come up with a negotiated political settlement, so to speak a peaceful solution," more Katos were likely to emerge."Because the longer it [peace talks] is, the more problem it would create," he said.
Jaafar referred to Kato, a renegade MILF commander, as a "mujahideen" or freedom fighter who is among the most respected in the MILF, reputedly the largest Muslim secessionist group with 12,000 fighters.
Burgos said that the Armed Forces would always support the government's peace efforts and other peace initiatives in resolving conflict situations and that they would continue to pursue non-violent means as a primary effort in attaining peace and stability.
"Resorting to armed confrontation would always be the last recourse. However, we are always prepared to perform out duties to the nation and we will do everything we can to fulfill our mandate to the people," the Armed Forces official added.
On Jaafar's assertion that there could be more renegade Muslims who might following Kato's footsteps, Burgos said, "Our units in the field will continue to carry out security operations in their respective areas of jurisdiction. Our field commanders have their own operation plans and guidelines, which they would follow to accomplish their tasks and mission in their respective localities."
Jaafar maintained though that for the peace process to succeed, the government should listen to the MILF leadership and heed its proposal because it is the only the Filipino Muslims who exactly know the real solution to the conflict that has dragged on for more than four decades.
He said that the only solution that they want is the creation of a sub-state.
"That's the solution that we want, that the Bangsamoro people want, the comprehensive compact agreement," Jaafar pointed out.
"That [sub-state] is not independent from the Republic of the Philippines but has enough power to change the lives and living condition of the Bangsamoro people," he said.
Jaafar added that even as Kato has publicly declared his opposition to the peace talks, the MILF leadership would not ask him to drop his cause for liberation because it is supposedly shared by all Filipino Muslims.
But the MILF leadership, he pointed out, was not supporting Kato's cause because they were still for full autonomy.
Stalled talks resumed on August 22 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after President Benigno Aquino 3rd went out of his way to meet with MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim in Tokyo, Japan.
The talks, however, resulted in a "deadlock" after the MILF panel rejected a counter-proposal submitted by the government panel, saying that it did not respond to their proposed comprehensive compact agreement that pushed for the establishment of a Bangsamoro sub-state.
The sub-state, the rebels said, while fully autonomous would still remain under the wings of the national government.
Both parties have not agreed on when to resume the negotiations even as they continued to exchange words in the media.
According to Kato, the MILF Central Committee met on Monday at Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao to discuss the government's counter-proposal but he declined to disclose what was initially agreed upon during the meeting.
Kato has been seen as a leverage or bargaining chip in the talks.
University of the Philippines Institute on Islamic Studies head Julkipli Wadi recently stated that Kato could be compared to a "loose cannon" of the MILF.
Amid these heated exchanges, the military has deployed tanks and armored vehicles around Central Mindanao in preparation for possible resurgence of hostilities as the holy month of Ramadan ended on Tuesday.
Kato prepares for the kill Published : Tuesday, August 30, 2011 00:00 Written by : AFP
(This photo taken on Sunday shows Muslim renegade commander Ameril Umbra Kato leading his men to meet with members of the media in a clandestine press conference at Camp Omar in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao province. AFP PHOTO)
'Surrender' not an option for renegade MILF rebel
DATU UNSAY, Maguindanao: Surrounded by a small band of ragtag but ruthless followers, hardline Muslim rebel commander Ameril Umbra Kato vows to destroy the latest peace efforts in troubled southern Philippines.
Decades of fighting have neither wearied nor diluted the resolve of the Saudi Arabian-educated guerrilla, and he warns that he remains willing to kill and die in his quest to achieve an independent Muslim homeland in resource-rich Mindanao.
"We will not surrender. We will continue the fight for liberation," Kato told a small group of journalists in Camp Omar, the base of his newly formed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, on Sunday.
He declared this month that he had split from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the nation's biggest Muslim rebel group, because it had entered into peace talks with the government and abandoned its independence aspirations.
The MILF leadership and the government have expressed hopes that a peace deal can be achieved over the next few years to finally end a conflict that has claimed about 150,000 lives since the 1970s.
But Kato said that it was God's will that the southern third of mostly Roman Catholic Philippines become an independent Muslim homeland and he angrily denounced the MILF's willingness to accept some form of autonomy.
"The peace talks are a waste of effort, waste of time and waste of money," Kato said, to shouts of Allah is Great from his followers.
At his camp—a grassy mountainous area on the outskirts of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao province, reachable by several hours' hike on a muddy trail—some of his followers at first glance appear more like farmhands than insurgents.
A few of the roughly 200 who had gathered for a show of force in front of the media were barefoot, while others asked the journalists whether they had brought spare food.
Most appeared to be very young men, third generation fighters drafted by their fathers and grandfathers who had also fought in the rebellion and have long-standing ties to Kato—who says that he is 65 years old.
While little is known about him, military intelligence officials confirmed to Agence France-Presse his account of studying at a Saudi Arabian Islamic university in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Well armed Kato claims to have as many as 5,000 armed followers but that number is widely considered an enormous exaggeration, with the MILF itself only having 12,000.
The MILF and the military say that the real number of guerrillas under his command are probably in the low hundreds.
Many of the men at his camp had weapons taken from fallen enemies on the battlefield, while others carried World War I era M-1 Garand rifles with cracked wooden handles and rusty barrels.
But there was also some heavy weaponry, including M-50 machine guns, home-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers and long-barreled sniper rifles, which they claimed could hit a target as far as a kilometer (half a mile) away.
And while Kato's dream of an independent homeland for the roughly 4 million Muslims who live as a minority in the southern region of Mindanao is likely unachievable, no one underestimates his ability or his willingness to kill and create misery.
He and another guerrilla commander—Bravo—launched vicious attacks across Mindanao in 2008 after the Supreme Court rejected a deal that would have given the MILF control over land they claim as their ancestral domain.
Over 400 fighters and civilians were killed in the violence, which also displaced about 750,000 people as Kato's men targeted civilians in Muslim and Christian communities.
More recently, members of his new splinter group were involved in clashes with their former MILF comrades this month in a dispute over land that left 14 fighters from both sides dead.
Nevertheless, Umbrakato—for the time being at least—enjoys relative immunity from government persecution.
The military is not actively hunting him because the MILF has not officially expelled him, which means he remains covered by a ceasefire between the rebel organization and the government.
But the MILF may intend to maintain its links with Kato to use him as a bargaining chip in peace talks, according to Julkipli Wadi, dean of Islamic studies at the state-run University of the Philippines in Quezon City.
Wadi said that the MILF could use Kato as a "loose cannon," showing the government the worst-case scenario should peace talks break down.
According to an MILF spokesman, a decision on how the group would deal with Kato would be announced over the next few days, raising the possibility that he could be expelled.
"The decision will come out after the holy month of Ramadan. The MILF will finally decide on the fate of Kato," Von Al-Haq said also on Monday.
"Once the MILF disowns Kato, it would all be up to the Philippine government what to do with him," he added.
But the rebel group would not offer safe refuge to Kato.
"We will not allow him to stay in our areas or camps. He is no longer welcome in MILF areas," Al-Haq said.
Kato has repeatedly criticized MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim for abandoning their struggle for independence.
He said that Murad betrayed the rebels when he agreed to a secret meeting called by President Benigno Aquino 3rd in Japan earlier this month.
Manila proposed a wider Muslim autonomy to the MILF but the rebel group said that it would only agree to a "sub-state" in Mindanao.
The idea about the sub-state was presented by Murad to President Aquino during their meeting in Tokyo on August 4.
AFP with report from Al Jacinto
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