MILF headed for split? MILF CO-FOUNDER, 85 LEADERS DENOUNCE MURAD, IQBAL, JAAFAR

By Francisco Tuyay

The Manila Standard

AT least 85 top commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have denounced the leadership of Ebrahim Murad for keeping them out of the loop and secretly forging a doubtful peace deal with the government.

In a text message to The Standard, MILF co-founder Sheik Jamil Yahya vowed not to support the Bangsamoro Basic Law which Murad, whom he described as a “self-proclaimed” leader, for forging a deal that is discordant with MILF aspirations.

“We were not informed of the developments in the peace negotiations that Murad entered into with the government since the time of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo until the time of President Benigno Aquino III,” Jahya said.

“We did not support the BBL and will not support it,” Yahya said, adding that they were not even informed of the ongoing negotiations until a Framework Agreement was already finalized.

Yahya said the success of the BBL depends on the three conditions set by the former MILF Chairman Hashim Salamat, which was unanimously voted upon by the MILF Central Committee and the entire organization.

Yahya is also the chair of Murad’s Bangsamoro Supreme Council of Ulamas.

“To all Muslims: in our meeting on May 1 Sha’ban with 85 commanders, followers of the Amerul Mujahiden Salamat Hashim, Rahimahullah, it was unanimously agreed we could only accept the BBL if: (1) Muslim Mindanao is restored (as the Bangsamoro homeland), (2) full Shari’ah implementation without review of the SC and (3) Al-Qur’an and Al-Sunnah must be the only sources of Sahri’ah law,” said Yahya.

Aside from Murad, Yahya also denounced MILF vice chairman for military affairs Gadzali Jaafar and MILF peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal as mere politicians who don’t even have the trust of their superiors.

Yahya said the 85 commanders comprise nearly 90 percent of the guerrilla leaders who were original followers of Salamat and have a base force of 10,000 warriors.

The 85 commanders are considered the MILF mainstream and are still intact at Camp Busra, one of the MILF’s fortified camps in Lanao del Sur, but they have expressed their loss of trust in Murad and have even threatened to bolt the organization.

He also chided Murad for proclaiming himself as MILF chair, a clear violation of Salamat’s directive that Alleem Abdul Aziz should be his successor.

“Before Salamat died, he ordered Murad that Aziz will be the next in line in the top leadership, but Murad instead assumed the position without a unanimous endorsement,” he said.

The declaration of Mindanao as the Moro homeland by the MILF does not necessarily mean owning all the lands in the region but merely establishing equality among Moros.

Yahya was among those who were at Camp Abubakar when the military launched a massive offensive in 2000 that left hundreds dead, including his two sons, who were also MILF commanders.

He said they were the ones who rescued Murad when the latter was pinned down by the military attack.

(Photo credit: Photo of MILF rebel with M-60 machine-gun downloaded from wikipedia.com)