Philippines: Militant Leader Warns of IS Efforts to Recruit Followers

BenarNews Staff
2016.03.07
Kuala Lumpur
160307-MY-milf-peace-620.jpg Moro Islamic Liberation Front Chairman Murad Ebrahim, shown here delivering a speech in Tokyo in June 2015, is warning that the Islamic State is seeking a foothold in the Philippines because of Muslim frustration over peace efforts.
AFP

The leader of a Philippine militant group is pointing to efforts by the Islamic State (IS) to gain a foothold in his country as a reason for the government to establish an autonomous region for minority Muslims in the south.

Speaking in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman Murad Ebrahim called for a political solution to bring peace to the Bangsamoro region of the southern Philippines, according to reports.

Ebrahim’s comments came 10 days after he met with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who then expressed his commitment to peace efforts in the neighboring country.

Razak said he supported efforts by the Philippines and MILF leaders to extend through March 2017 their long-standing ceasefire tied to a 2014 peace deal, the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB).

The ceasefire’s extension followed the recent adjournment of the Philippine congress without passage of Bangsamoro Basic Law, as required by the CAB to establish the autonomous region.

Ebrahim claimed that IS extremist group was using the growing frustration among Muslim groups in the south over the congressional inaction to establish itself in the Philippines, according to media reports.

“There have been some efforts of penetration, but they have not succeeded in establishing a stronghold,” Ebrahim said, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. “But now after the non-passage of the (bill), we are quite concerned that they can capitalize on this because the (frustration) of the people in the area is now very strong.”

He expressed hope that the next Philippine president who takes office in June would keep pursuing the peace process. President Benigno Aquino III, who led efforts to broker the 2014 peace agreement, cannot seek reelection.

Thousands killed over decades of fighting

Efforts to bring about peace and establish an autonomous home for the Muslim population, which forms a majority in Bangsamoro, are linked to more than 40 years of fighting in the region that has left more than 120,000 dead.

While Najib and Ebrahim were meeting late last month, Philippine security forces battled followers of Indonesian Ustadz Sanusi, a Jemaah Islamiyah member who was killed in the Philippines in 2012. MILF members did not participate in the fighting, which displaced 20,000 people and left at least six combatants on both sides dead.

Ebrahim said MILF leaders wanted the peace efforts to work and were seeking to dissuade IS-allied militants from attacks, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

“We cannot completely abandon armed struggle, but we always believe we have to give supremacy, primacy to the peace process because we believe the solution to the problem is still political,” Ebrahim said, according to AFP. “As long as the peace process has a chance to move forward then we don’t want to revert to violence again.”

POST A COMMENT

Add your comment by filling out the form below in plain text. Comments are approved by a moderator and can be edited in accordance with RFAs Terms of Use. Comments will not appear in real time. RFA is not responsible for the content of the postings. Please, be respectful of others' point of view and stick to the facts.