Murad pledged to pursue the MILF liberation drive and peace talks with the Philippine government

Kazi Mahmood, IOL Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 (IslamOnline.net) - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would fully observe, respect and enforce existing policies and programs of deceased leader Salamat Hashim and would continue to strive for unity of Muslims in South East Asia, an influential MILF member told IslamOnline.net Saturday, August 9.

MILF Central Committee decided Thursday, August 7, that the new leadership of the liberation force would continue the work of Salamat, who passed away on July 13 and was replaced by his second in command, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.

Besides its struggle for the liberation of its people and of its land from an occupation by a foreign force, the MILF will also work to spread Islamic brotherhood in the region, if not in the world.

In a contact with IOL from Cotabato city, MILF spokesman and long-time member Eid Kabalu said the movement will never shed its aim of uniting Muslims in the region under one banner, which was the dream of the Salamat.

The influence of Salamat was not only felt in the Philippines but was in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei as well as Singapore.

The MILF became one of the most prominent Islamic movements in the entire SEA region thanks to the goals set by Salamat, IOL was told.

The movement, however, does not intend to create a political organization that has its reach within the Malay belt which is represented by Patani in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and Mindanao-Sulu in the Philippine.

The MILF wants the Muslims to be united, to show brotherhood similar to what Malaysia has showed in the negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the decades of war in Southern Philippines.

"The countries in the region will gain if the Muslims are united and this will altogether help stave-off terrorism and extremism in the region, " Ahmad Andnan, a MILF member working in Sabah, Malaysia told IOL.

To achieve this aim, the MILF nevertheless has to settle the problems in Mindanao and it intends to do so as soon as a durable peace treaty is signed in Kuala Lumpur.

One of the obstacles to peace could be the mentality within the Philippine government and the military itself, Philippine Muslims interviewed on the prospects of peace in the region told IOL.

"People within the military and the government in the Philippine are certainly trying to break-up the group on the basis of ethnicity and tribal rivalry that may exists between the members of the MILF, " a member of the Bangsamoro tribe living in Sabah as a refugee said.

However he added that the strong show of support of Malaysia in these difficult times for the liberation movement was a guarantee that neither the Gloria Macagapal Arroyo government nor the military in Mindanao could shake the foundation of the MILF.

Newspapers close to the Arroyo regime have suggested recently that the leadership of the MILF was split and that peace was not a certainty if a leadership squabble would arise within the movement.

At present the MILF is talking peace with the Philippine government as part of the organization’s commitment to resolve the Mindanao problem through peaceful negotiations.

It also has plans to absorb members of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang back into the society and to assist the local authorities in dealing with terrorism as well as kidnappings in the Southern region of this vastly Christian country.

Meanwhile, Kabalu on Friday, August 8, accused the Philippines Armed Forces Southern Command of trying to muddle the peace talks by fabricating evidences in order to justify again a military offensive in the province of Lanao del Norte.

He said that in guise of hunting fugitive suspected international terrorist Fathur Rahman Al-Ghozi, who escaped from his detention cell along with two Abu Sayyaf at Camp Crame several weeks ago, the military tagged the MILF as an accomplish in hiding Al-Ghozi.

The MILF spokesman stressed that Al-Ghozi was nowhere in Mindanao.

"In fact local officials of Sultan Naga Dimaporo were surprised of the military activity in the area and rejected military claims that Al-Ghozi was indeed somewhere in Lanao del Norte or with the MILF, " added Kabalu.

On August 6, the MILF offered to help the Philippine government in recapturing Al Ghozi.