BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama said that Sheik Esmael Abubakar -- a.k.a. Kumander Bungos, the group's vice chairman for political affairs -- would succeed Ameril Umra Kato who died of a stroke on Tuesday. He said, "The group decided to have the 40-year-old Abubakar take over Kato's post."Mama called Kato's death a big loss, adding that the group would not become weaker without its founder.
Sheik Abubakar is said to have studied in the Middle East, is an expert in Sharia law, and taken the title of sheik before serving as a brigade commander for the MILF, from which the BIFF split in 2008.