Philippine Muslim rebels try to woo back rogue commander
Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:18 GMT
MANILA, April 28 (Reuters) - The Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group on Thursday assured government negotiators a rogue commander who had organised a splinter group is not a threat to peace talks, insisting the problem is an internal issue.
Negotiators from the Manila government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were holding talks in the Malaysian capital this week to find a political formula to end 40 years of conflict in the south of the mainly Catholic state.
"The Kato problem is internal to the MILF. Leave this problem to us," Mohagher Iqbal, the rebels' chief negotiator, told the government peace panel, referring to Ustadz Ameril Umbra Kato, a rouge commander who had criticised the talks.
In November, Kato organised his own armed group, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and rejected peace negotiations to set up an independent and separate Muslim state in the south. [ID:nSGE71602E]
Iqbal said the MILF had failed to convince Kato to disband his armed group, but the rebel group had secured an assurance from the rogue commander that he would respect the ceasefire and any agreement that would be reached by the two sides.
In March, the MILF decided to expel Kato, stopping him from using the name of MILF in any activities or communications. The decision was announced in the rebels' website, www.luwaran.com, on Thursday. [ID:nSGE73000G]
Iqbal said there are still efforts to convince Kato to rejoin the MILF. "We are not giving up," he said, adding the rebel group wanted to give him a second chance.
Marvic Leonen, the government's chief negotiator, remained concerned over the existence of a splinter group in the MILF, saying the success of the peace negotiation with rebels hinged on MILF's efforts to resolve its internal problem.
Leonen said the government would be ready to show its own draft of a final peace agreement when negotiation resumed in early June. The MILF submitted its own draft in February.
On Thursday, Malaysia introduced the new facilitator, Tengku Abdul Ghaffar Mohammad, replacing Dato Othman bin Abdul Razak, whom Manila claimed was bias in favour of the rebels. [ID:nL3E7FR1ZJ]
The separatist conflict, one of two long-running insurgencies that have hobbled development and investment in the Southeast Asian nation, has killed 120,000, displaced 2 million and stunted development in the deprived but resource-rich area.
In August 2008, Kato was a key figure behind an outbreak of violence after a deal creating an ancestral homeland for Muslims was nullified by the Supreme Court.
He led attacks on Catholic-dominated villages in the central region of Mindanao, displacing more than 750,000 people at the height of the conflict. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Andrew Marshall)
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