Ameril Umbra Kato, right, the commander of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the breakaway faction of the largest Filipino Muslim rebel group, leads his men in prayers inside his rebel stronghold in Maguindanao Tuesday. AP
MANILA, Philippines—A radical guerrilla commander said he has split from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and formed his own with hundreds of fighters to wage a war for a separate homeland in Mindanao.
Ameril Umbra Kato told The Associated Press in a cellphone interview Thursday from his jungle hide-out in southern Maguindanao province that he would not return to the MILF, which has opened peace talks with the government and 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-affiliated 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 steps he would take next.
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.”
Rebel spokesman Von Al Haq from the main Moro group expressed relief that Kato finally has clearly indicated he wants to lead his own organization but warned “he will be accountable for his actions, which will no longer have any bearing on the MILF.”
“It’s a process of elimination,” Al Haq said. “At the end of the day, all those who couldn’t hold firm on our basic principles fall on the wayside.”
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 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 in 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 seeking autonomy instead of independence.
“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.
Security officials have accused Kato in the past of providing refuge to members of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah, the small but brutal Abu Sayyaf group and Filipino militants. They include Usman Basit, who has been sought by US and Philippine authorities in connection with deadly bomb attacks.
Kato said he and his men lead honorable lives and were ready to die for their convictions if they come under attack. He condemned groups like the Abu Sayyaf, which he described as bandits “who exist for money and engage in forbidden business.”
“They have stained my names with all these allegations of bombing malls and bus terminals,” Kato said. “These are all big sins and un-Islamic. I have no contact with al-Qaida.”
“Who are the real terrorists?” he asked. “They are government troops who drop bombs anywhere even if there are civilians.”