Philippines to press action against rogue rebel

MANILA – The Philippines will press Muslim rebels to go after a rogue member who formed a splinter guerrilla unit that could jeopardise peace talks, a top government aide said on Sunday.

Ameril Umbrakato’s new guerrilla unit, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, was to top the agenda in Monday’s resumption of peace talks in Malaysia, said Teresita Deles, who advises the president on the negotiations.

“Kato is definitely in the agenda of talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) starting tomorrow,” Deles told AFP.

Umbrakato, who was a senior commander of the MILF, took about 300 of his men to continue the 33-year Islamist insurgency that has claimed some 150,000 lives.

He had rejected the talks and accused his former comrades of abandoning the fight for an independent Muslim homeland in Mindanao, the country’s southern island.

While the government action on Umbrakato would hinge on the MILF’s explanation of how it was planning deal with his faction, Deles said a military response was possible.

She said the government may invoke an earlier agreement with the MILF calling on both parties to help each other arrest or capture lawless elements operating in areas under its control.

After weeks of denying dissent among its ranks, the MILF described Umbrakato’s unit on Friday as a “lost command” – a term it uses for former guerrillas who no longer follow its orders and operating no its own.

“Government action will depend on what they explain his (Umbrakato’s) exact status is,” Deles said.

“Assuming that we all know what ‘lost command’ means, the government may invoke the ad hoc joint action group,” Deles said.

Umbrakato was one of two hard line MILF leaders who led large-scale attacks across Mindanao in August 2008 after the Supreme Court outlawed a draft peace deal that would have given the organisation control over vast areas of the south.

About 400 people died and some 750,000 were displaced from their homes in that attack.