Muslim rebel group head dies in Philippines: report

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

The founder of a breakaway Muslim rebel group involved in a recent clash that saw 44 police commandos killed in the southern Philippines died early Tuesday morning, according to local officials.

The news came weeks after reports circulated that Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters’ (BIFF) Ameril Umbra Kato was seriously ill.  

Local mayor Samsoddin “Pink” Dimaukom told the MindaNews website Tuesday that he had received information that the 68-year-old suffered cardiac arrest somewhere in the town of Guindulungan, Maguindanao province, at around 2 a.m. (1900GMT).  

“Yes, he died according to his relatives due to his heart disease," Dimaukom said, adding that he did not know where Kato would be buried.

According to Muslim practice, the body should be laid to rest at most 24 hours after the time of death.

The chief peace negotiator from the country’s largest Muslim rebel group – from which BIFF broke away – also confirmed Kato’s death.

Mohagher Iqbal of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was quoted as saying, “Kato indeed died based on our reliable information.”

BIFF spokesperson Abu Misry Mama had earlier refused to confirm or deny the reports, but later said that the group’s founder “has returned to his creator.”

Major General Edmundo Pangilinan, 6th Infantry Division commander, said the military was verifying the report through their intelligence arm and “waiting too [for] confirmed reports.”

Kato, a Saudi-trained preacher who carried a 10 million Philippine peso (more than $224,000) bounty on his head, had led the MILF's 105th Base Command until breaking away after the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that an MILF-government peace deal was unconstitutional.

He and two other disappointed commanders launched a bloody attack in the provinces of North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte in August 2008.

Kato established BIFF after facing disciplinary action by the MILF’s central committee for the attack on civilian communities. The MILF did not recognize the break until 2010 when it declared BIFF a "lost command."

The splinter group reportedly began with 50 members, mostly Kato’s relatives and loyal followers from his former MILF command, and drew more recruits.  

BIFF has rejected a 2012 preliminary peace agreement signed between the government and the MILF, and vowed to continue the fight for full independence for Mindanao island.

In 2014, the MILF inked a peace deal with the government with the aim of granting greater autonomy to the southern Muslim-majority provinces, ending a decades-long insurgency that has seen 120,000 people killed.

The military launched an “all-out offensive” against BIFF in February in response to the Jan. 25 battle in Mamasapano township, Maguindanao, which left 44 Special Action Force police, 17 MILF members and five civilians dead.

The suspected involvement of the MILF in the deaths of the commandos had threatened to derail the peace process.