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Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Philippines: MILF gets a divorce

Aug 19, 2011 12:24 am By Marisol Seibold

And now, the jihad causes poverty, and frequently kicks vulnerable populations and economies while they are down.

There can be no stable society, and therefore, no prosperous society, when violence is so easily provoked in the name of honor, or for the imposition of Islamic law. There can be no lasting, sustainable investment and development when there is the constant risk of seeing those investments destroyed. The conditions to create wealth do not exist where there is perpetual insecurity, as jihad creates, blackmailing a population to give up liberty for security. Nor do they exist where there is not freedom of conscience and inquiry (and access to education outside the madrassa for girls as well as boys), or where the fear of being killed for ideological crimes keeps people quiet and thinking inside the (pine) box.

After decades of a jihadist insurgency, the situation is nowhere near as simple as the report describes. “Philippine guerrilla forms new Muslim rebel group,” by Jim Gomez for the Associated Press, August 18:

MANILA, Philippines (AP) “” A renegade commander said Thursday he has split from the Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group and formed a new group with hundreds of fighters to wage a war for a separate homeland.

Ameril Umbra Kato told The Associated Press in a cellphone interview from his jungle hide-out in southern Maguindanao province that he would not return to the main Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has threatened to expel him after he led a mutiny in December.

Kato denied allegations by Philippine security officials that he has links with al-Qaida-linked militants in the country’s volatile south and was involved in deadly bombings and terrorist attacks.

He said his new group would be known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Front. Its guerrilla wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, was organized in January, a month after he broke off from the main Muslim guerrilla force over differences with insurgent leaders.

“This is the true jihad, the true revolution,” Kato said.

Kato, who has about 200 to 300 fighters according to his former comrades, did not give details about his combat force or say what next steps he would take.

Kato, who is in his late 60s, said he left because his former group chose to “waste time” by deciding to negotiate with the government for expanded autonomy instead of waging a battle for an independent Muslim homeland that would liberate minority Muslims from crushing poverty and neglect.

“We’ve been going around and around wasting money and look where the peace talks have brought us,” Kato said. “The roots of the conflict have not been solved.”

The infighting within the main 11,000-strong rebel force underscores the complexity of the Muslim unrest that has claimed more than 120,000 lives and stunted growth in the impoverished but resource-rich south of the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines.

The main guerrilla force currently led by Murad Ebrahim split in 1978 from the former Moro National Liberation Front, which dropped its secessionist bid for autonomy and signed a landmark peace accord with Manila in 1996. Murad’s group dropped its bid for independence last year but demanded a more powerful type of autonomy with greater control over wider territory.

Murad’s group said Kato, who used to head one of its largest and most battle-tested commands, resigned last December, citing his age and poor health. But Kato then formed a breakaway group and accused Murad’s group of betraying the Muslim cause by going for autonomy instead of independence.

Life imitates Monty Python: “Splitter!”

“They did that without consulting the Muslims. They cheated,” Kato said.

Philippine officials have expressed concern over the infighting, which they say casts doubts about the main rebel group’s ability to enforce any future accord in peace talks brokered by Malaysia.

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Filed Under: Philippines


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