Breakaway Moro rebel leader Kato is dead—sources

DAVAO City, Philippines—Ustadz Ameril Umra Kato, leader of a group that broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), passed away Saturday evening in Toril district here, a source with ties to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said.

The MILF source, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to talk on the matter, said Kato died around 6 p.m. Saturday, just after the customary Muslim evening prayer.

He was brought here for treatment after suffering from a stroke days earlier.

In a November 26 post in its official website, the MILF said Kato was “bedridden and could hardly speak” after the stroke.

The MILF source said Kato was brought to Toril to be cared for by his first wife.

Other sources said Kato was only treated at home, his family requesting doctors to come to him.

Von Al-Haq, spokesman of the MILF armed wing Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), said Kato’s relatives in Maguindanao confirmed to them information about the rebel leader’s death but not one has said to have seen his body.

Under Muslim custom, the dead is buried within 24 hours.

On Sunday morning, text messages from Moro activists and those sympathetic with the Moro cause also announced Kato’s death.

Kato’s death came more than a week after he met with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari in his mountain lair in Guindolongan, Maguindanao.

After the meeting, Misuari announced a possible union between the MNLF and Kato’s Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM).

Kato used to be the commander of the BIAF’s 104th Base Command covering areas around the Liguasan Marsh, which includes towns in North Cotabato and Maguindanao.

He was tagged as having led the attacks on civilian communities in North Cotabato in 2008, following the botched signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain between the government and MILF peace panels.

He broke away from the MILF’s BIAF in 2010, announcing the creation of his own army, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, although he still swore political allegiance to the MILF.

He totally left the MILF with the founding of BIFM this year.

Al-Haq said the BIAF’s doors have been opened to Kato’s fighters.