COTABATO CITY, 17 May 2004 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has denied the claim of a former regional “commander” that the separatist group had split into five groups.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said Sharif Muhsin Julabbi’s statement, carried by the Japanese language newspaper The Manila Shimbun recently, was “baseless” and a “monstrous lie.”
“The MILF remains a solid revolutionary organization united under the strong leadership of Chairman Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim,” Kabalu said in a press statement.
Julabbi had been quoted by the paper as saying the biggest of the groups that broke away from the MILF is his own MILF-BMA with 7,500 strong armed fighters. He said his members are practically in control of the Zamboanga Peninsula in the southern Philippines, the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and the Davao provinces in eastern Mindanao.
Kabalu said Jullabi’s claim was also ridiculous because he has “not even been a bonafide member of the MILF and, therefore, he has no right or authority to speak for and in behalf of the Front.”
“In a real sense of the word, Julabbi has no standing army, nay private army to call on and his 7,500 soldiers as quoted in The Manila Shimbun is a blatant lie,” Kabalu said. He further said Julabbi has never been a popular leader.
He said Julabbi used to be a member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) but he surrendered to the Marcos dictatorship in the early part of 70s, after which where he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Philippine Army. After the MNLF signed a peace pact with the Philippine government in 1996, the MILF became the dominant Muslim separatist group. It is now talking peace with Manila.
Before retiring later with the rank of captain, Julabbi reportedly worked with the military’s Southern Command to deceive thousands of MNLF fighters into surrendering in exchance for empty promises.
Except for his brief membership in the MILF Peace Panel’s technical committee, Julabbi has never been connected with the MILF, Kabalu said.
“He was at one time claiming to be a co-chairman and sometime spokesman for Western Mindanao, a position never exist in the MILF structures,” Kabalu added.
Julabbi announced his supposed breaking away two years ago when the MILF leadership publicly disowned statements he was making in behalf of the Front.
