A radical guerrilla commander said he had split from the largest Muslim militant group and formed his own with hundreds of fighters to wage a war for a separate homeland.In a cellphone interview from his jungle hide-out in Maguindanao, Ameril Umbra Kato said that he would not return to the mainstream Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has opened negotiations with the government and threatened to expel him after he led a mutiny in December. Kato also denied accusations that he has links with al-Qaida.
He said his new group would be called 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 MILF.
Kato, estimated to have 200 to 300 fighters by his former comrades, did not give many details about his combat force or say what he would do next. Kato, who is in his late 60s, said he left because his former group chose to "waste time" negotiating with the government instead of waging a battle for an independent Muslim homeland.
"We've been going around and around wasting money and look where the peace talks have brought us. The roots of the conflict have not been solved," Kato said.
MILF spokesman Von Al Haq expressed relief that Kato finally had declared he wanted to lead his own organization but warned "he will be accountable for his actions, which will no longer have any bearing on the MILF."
Al Haq said, "It's a process of elimination. At the end of the day, all those who couldn't hold firm on our basic principles fall on the wayside."
The main guerrilla force now led by Murad Ebrahim split in 1978 from the Moro National Liberation Front, which dropped its bid for secession and signed a 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 more territory.
Murad's group said Kato 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.
Kato said, "They did that without consulting the Muslims. They cheated."