Ameril Umbra Kato told The Associated Press in a cellphone interview from his jungle hide-out in southern Maguindanao province that he would not return to the main Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has threatened to expel him after he led a mutiny in December.
Kato denied allegations by Philippine security officials that he has links with Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the country’s volatile south and was involved in deadly bombings and terrorist attacks.
He said his new group would be known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Front (BIFF). Its guerrilla wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, was organized in January, a month after he broke off from the main Muslim guerrilla force over differences with insurgent leaders.
“This is the true jihad, the true revolution,” Kato said.
Kato, who has about 200 to 300 fighters according to his former comrades, did not give details about his combat force or say what next steps he would take.
Kato, who is in his late 60s, said he left because his former group chose to “waste time” by deciding to negotiate with the government for expanded autonomy instead of waging a battle for an independent Muslim homeland that would liberate minority Muslims from crushing poverty and neglect.
“We’ve been going around and around wasting money and look where the peace talks have brought us,” Kato said. “The roots of the conflict have not been solved.”
The infighting within the main 11,000-strong rebel force underscores the complexity of the Muslim unrest that has claimed more than 120,000 lives and stunted growth in the impoverished but resource-rich south of the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines.
The main guerrilla force currently led by Murad Ebrahim split in 1978 from the former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which dropped its secessionist bid for autonomy and signed a landmark 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 wider territory.
Murad’s group said Kato, who used to head one of its largest and most battle-tested commands, resigned last 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 going for autonomy instead of independence.
“They did that without consulting the Muslims. They cheated,” Kato said.
Philippine officials have expressed concern over the infighting, which they say casts doubts about the main rebel group’s ability to enforce any future accord in peace talks brokered by Malaysia.
Philippine security officials have accused Kato in the past of providing refuge to members of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah, the small but brutal Abu Sayyaf group and Filipino militants like Usman Basit who have been sought by US and Philippine authorities in connection with deadly bomb attacks.
“They have stained my names with all these allegations of bombing malls and bus terminals,” Kato said. “These are all big sins and un-Islamic. I have no contact with Al-Qaeda.”
“Who are the real terrorists?” he asked. “They are government troops who drop bombs anywhere even if there are civilians.”
