Kato no longer covered by ceasefire accord with gov’t – MILF

RENEGADE Moro rebel leader Ustadz Ameril Umra Kato bids journalists goodbye after an hourlong interview in his mountain lair. RYAN ROSAURO

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Breakaway Moro rebel leader Ameril Umbra Kato is not covered anymore by the ceasefire agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government, a senior MILF official said Thursday.

Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief, said Kato’s defiance of a September 26 deadline for his return to the MILF fold had lapsed without the renegade commander making any effort to comply.

He said this prompted the MILF to officially drop Kato from its roster after the deadline lapsed.

With Kato’s separation from the MILF, he and his men are no longer covered by the agreement on the cessation of hostilities between the government and the MILF, Jaafar said in a radio interview.

“We don’t care anymore what his group will do. That’s the implication of this move. We decided that he is no longer with us,” Jaafar said. Kato had actually announced his break from the MILF as early as January.

Abu Misra Mama, speaking for Kato’s Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), said the Saudi-trained cleric had no plans of returning to the MILF and that he made it clear when he formed a separate group early this year.

“There is no more possibility of our return to the MILF’s fold. The MILF no longer abides by the principles of Islam in pushing for Moro rule in Mindanao,” Mama said by phone.

He said Kato welcomed the MILF’s decision without regret.

“With this decision, we will continue the Islamic struggle for independence,” Misra said.

Brigadier General Ariel Bernardo, chairman of the government’s ceasefire committee, said any military action against Kato would still be coordinated with the MILF because Kato’s forces were in areas where MILF rebels operate.

Earlier, Armed Forces chief General Eduardo Oban Jr. told reporters in Manila that the military would act against Kato as soon as he was officially declared not part of the MILF.

Kato was being blamed for the 2008 violence that flared in North Cotabato, Maguindanao and nearby areas where more than 60 people were killed and tens of thousands displaced.

However, the government’s mission to get Kato and others responsible for the attacks was stymied by the ceasefire accord, Bernardo said.

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines has to hold its punches in running after Kato’s group as the government panel negotiating peace with the MILF considered the issue as an internal problem,” he said.

Despite declaring Kato not part of the MILF anymore, Jaafar said the rebel group did not consider him an enemy.

“Our enemies are the oppressors. And this goes for the government and other groups that exercise tyranny and oppression,” he said.

(Reports from Edwin Fernandez, Jeoffrey Maitem and Charlie Señase, Inquirer Mindanao)