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Al Haj Murad Ebrahim

Al Haj Murad Ebrahim

Moro Islamic Liberation Front

Southeast Asia

20030109

Southeast Asia

Stalled MILF peace deal crucial in Philippines ISIL fight

2017-10-25

[Al Jazeera] ISIS's Southeast Asian oblates may have failed at their first attempt to carve out territory here, but their defeat was by no means final. With the Philippine government delaying a peace deal that would give a predominantly Moslem southern region more autonomy, experts, rebels and even officials warned of possible attacks from several gangs that have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, also known as ISIS). Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), told Al Jazeera, "Radical groups emerged whenever there were failures in the grinding of the peace processor. Leaders with radical ideologies exploit the people's frustration at these failures." The MILF fought decades with the government of the Christian-majority country, first for independence and then for autonomy. It broke away from the original Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1977 when the MNLF settled for autonomy after years of fighting for a separate state. Now, the MILF is steps away from sealing a deal that will expand the autonomous region and give its government more substantial powers. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte promised to sign the deal into law after his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, failed to do so. However, ars longa, vita brevis... Duterte's allies in congress have not prioritised passing the measure. "There is consistent prejudice against the Bangsamoro people," Ebrahim said, referring to the southwestern Mindanao region that is home to several Moslem ethnic groups collectively called "Moro".

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Southeast Asia

MILF, MNLF unite for Bangsamoro law passage

2015-10-14

[InterAksyon] Top leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front declared that the two Moro fronts have agreed to "merge and unite" to push for the passage of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) now pending in the Philippine legislature. After the reunification meeting in Maguindanao, MNLF chair Muslimin Sema said, "This unification simply means that both sides have the same goal – that is for the betterment of Bansamoro people and other inhabitants of Mindanao." MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said the unification was born during the recent Bangsamoro Coordination Forum in Kuwait called for by the Organization of Islamic Conference in May this year. Both Murad and Sema said that "under this present situation of the peace process, we realized and feel duty-bound to strengthen and consolidate our unity and our people under the blessings of universal brotherhood for the common good and interest of all." The MNLF Sema faction is the largest and most politically active part of three MNLF factions of the MNLF that includes the Nur Misuari faction and the MNLF-Islamic Command Council.

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Southeast Asia

MNLF declares solidarity with MILF

2015-05-01

[Manila Times] Leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front gathered in Marawi City on Tuesday to call for passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and to express solidarity with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Over a thousand people joined the Bangsamoro Walk for Peace around the city early Tuesday morning and held a rally to acknowledge peace efforts by the MILF and the Philippine government. MNLF chairman Datu Abul Khayr Alonto said the Bangsamoro people are looking for more peace advocates to support the BBL. He said the BBL may be the last opportunity for the Bangsamoro people to negotiate autonomy for their homeland. Alonto said, "While we need sincerity to pursue lasting peace in Mindanao, all stakeholders, especially the government, should consider the utmost necessity to settle the Bangsamoro issue and a diluted [BBL] has a price that will be too great." Participating in Tuesday's events were surviving original MNLF guerillas known in the late 1960s and the 1970s as the Black Shirts, MILF representatives, the government peace panel and the International Monitoring Team. Alonto said the MNLF and the MILF have put aside their differences and agreed to work together after he and MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim signed a communiqué for cooperation at Camp Darapanan last January.

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Southeast Asia

MILF’s Murad: “Peace talks can swing either way”

2006-09-22

The politix of dhimmitude on display in the Philippines. Long but informative. The chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has issued a statement warning that the peace process with the government is “passing through a "turbulent area" and the sign "belts on" is switched. While acknowledging that “negotiation is still the best option to resolve the conflict in Mindanao,” MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, the MILF peace panel chair from March 2001 to July 2003 when he assumed the chairmanship after Salamat Hashim’s death, noted that “if the government insists to dilly dally and treat the peace talks as mere counterinsurgency tool, who can blame the Bangsamoro people if they choose other means to continue their legitimate struggle for freedom and self-determination?” Generally, I don't blame the Bangsamoro people. But I do blame the Soddy money, the Soddy holy men, and their sycophantic press lackeys and spineless craven politicians. Meh. Government peace panel chair Silvestre Afable in a statement issued in response to Iqbal’s statement on September 13, said the government had “presented Constitutional options on the negotiating table consistent with socio-demographic realities and equitable development that will ensure just and durable peace. This is pragmatic peace building in the 21st century and not the outmoded counterinsurgency model of the cold war,” Afable said. "I believe we shall have peace in our time, and I believe I shall have another shrimp cocktail." Murad said the government “must take responsibility for this ‘breakdown’ of the talks,” adding it is “not serious enough in its formulation on (the) strand on territory of the ancestral domain aspect of the Tripoli Agreement of 2001 by offering the MILF inclusion of some areas for the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity subject to ‘constitutional processes.’” “This is a conditional offer that no real revolutionary group worthy of its name can accept. This will only repeat the failure of the GRP-MNLF ‘Final Peace Agreement of 1996’ that until now the government has never complied with fully.Do we need to replicate this failure, prolong the sufferings of the people, and extend the war in Mindanao?” Murad asked. "Here's my velvet glove. Wanna see my steel fist?" In his Sept. 13 statement, Afable stressed that in addressing the roots of the conflict, his panel “supported concrete proposals for MILF leadership development, the preservation of the Islamic heritage, firm control of resources, and economic independence within the ancestral domain. All these are on the record.” “What the MILF wants is an extra-Constitutional solution to the issue of territory, which is not possible to negotiate under the present terms of reference of the GRP peace panel. Discussions of a Constitutional nature can be done with the framers once the opportunity presents itself in the future,” he said. “Nevertheless, the GRP Panel will continue to propose options for consideration until a meeting of minds can be reconnected after this impasse,” Afable said.

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Southeast Asia

Ranking MILF member sez Rohmat's a spy

2005-04-15

A ranking leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) claimed Saturday that a recently arrested Indonesian with alleged links to the Jemaah Islamiyah was a "spy of the Philippines or the United States government." Muhammad Ameen, secretary to the office of MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, said the arrested Indonesian national Rohmat, alias Zaki, is "another deep penetration agent," or spy, of the Philippine military or the US Central Intelligence Agency tasked "to infiltrate the Abu Sayyaf." Ameen raised his belief in the wake of the treatment Rohman got later on. "Freely allowing Zaki to be interviewed on television few days after the military provoked controversy for their stiff opposition to interviews of 'terrorists' is highly suspicious," Ameen was quoted as saying in a report posted at the rebels' website. Earlier, Lieutenant General Edilberto Adan, Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief of staff, urged the media to shun from giving interviews to terrorists in line with the fight against terrorism. Ameen charged that Rohmat "have himself arrested to tell a story already scripted." Rohmat, who was arrested last month in Maguindanao, later appeared in national television and told his story. He admitted participation in the series of bomb attacks in the country last February 14--in the cities of Makati, Davao and General Santos--that left eight people dead and over 150 others injured. Rohmat claimed that he was around when Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Solaiman planned the Valentine's Day bomb attacks. The Abu Sayyaf further planned to bomb other places in Metro Manila and Mindanao, the suspect said.

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Southeast Asia

MILF sez Rohmat is a US or Filippino agent

2005-04-03

A ranking leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) claimed Saturday that a recently arrested Indonesian with alleged links to the Jemaah Islamiyah was a "spy of the Philippine or the United States governments." Muhammad Ameen, secretary to the office of MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, said the arrested Indonesian national Rohmat, alias Zaki, is "another deep penetration agent" or spy of the Philippine military or the US Central Intelligence Agency tasked "to infiltrate the Abu Sayyaf." Ameen based his claim on the treatment Rohman got after his arrest. "Freely allowing Zaki to be interviewed on television a few days after the military provoked controversy for their stiff opposition to interviews of 'terrorists' is highly suspicious," Ameen was quoted as saying in a report posted at the rebels' website. Earlier, Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief of staff, urged the media to shun giving interviews to suspected terrorists in line with the fight against terrorism. Ameen charged that Rohmat "had himself arrested to tell a story already scripted." Rohmat, who was arrested last month in Maguindanao, later appeared to tell his story on national television. He claimed to have participated in the series of bomb attacks in the country last February 14 in the cities of Davao, General Santos and Makati that left eight people dead and over 150 others injured. Rohmat claimed he was around when Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Sayyaf spokesperson Abu Solaiman planned the Valentine's Day bomb attacks. Rohmat also claimed the Abu Sayyaf has more plans to bomb places in Metro Manila and Mindanao, the suspect said. Military officials said then that Rohmat trained members of the Abu Sayyaf in bomb-making. Ameen's claim that the US government has spies in Mindanao was not the first. Early this year, Senator Aquilino Pimentel, who hails from Mindanao, said there are a number of spies allegedly deployed by the US government in Mindanao. American embassy officials immediately denied the senator's claim. US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone told MindaNews in an interview in February tthat he "never said such thing" as the US having 70 military spies running around Mindanao. "What I am saying is we have about 70 soldiers temporarily in Zamboanga. Sometimes they venture out.. but their main mission is Ops-Intel fusion. Ops-Intel-fusion is not spying. It is working in a rural area linking up computers, linking up data from the United States, from outside, money laundering, profile of bad guys, identities, fingerprints, photos, locally available
 putting it together and making it available
" Ameen dismissed charges that the MILF has links with the Jemaah Islamiya and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. "This is an old story being kept alive to destroy the MILF as a revolutionary organization," Ameen said.

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Southeast Asia

Southern Philippines Muslim fighters to resume peace talks with Manila

2003-01-09

BINA Ranking members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), together with some members of the MILF negotiating panel and MILF technical committees, met yesterday in an undisclosed location in Maguindanao to discuss and prepare the final draft of the document that will be submitted to the government in Manila when peace talks resume this month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Negotiating with these Soddy proxies is a big mistake for the Philippine government — but they've started on that course... The draft proposal will be submitted to the MILF Central Committee for deliberation in a plenary session, which will be convened soon. It is expected that the MILF will finally adopt its official position especially on the issue of ancestral domain aspect of the Tripoli Agreement in time for the resumption the peace talks. "Ancestral domain" means they want to have their own little Dar ul-Islam, and infidels can stay out. Any that are there now can become proper Muslims and maybe they won't be killed... The Bangsamoro Islamic News Agency (BINA) reported that present during the meeting were Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, MILF deputy chair for military affairs and concurrently MILF chief negotiator, deputy chair for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar, MILF chief information officer Mohagher Iqbal, and other members of the MILF Central Committee, who requested anonymity. They expect to have high positions under the khalifa, but until they have one, they don't want to stick their necks out... In a related development, a reliable source close to the government in Manila told BINA that the Arroyo dispensation is considering the postponement again of the peace talks slated this month fearing that an impasse of the talks with MILF is inevitable. Good move. Two weeks after Doomsday seems like a good date to shoot for to start them up again... He disclosed that the main reason given was the nature of the government proposal, which is still "autonomy" — an idea rejected by the MILF. They have to have their independence, otherwise they can't be part of the Greater Southeast Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere...

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Southeast Asia

MILF to resume talks with government

2002-12-27

BINA Chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Al Haj Murad Ebrahim told the Bangsamoro Islamic News Agency (BINA) in an exclusive today that the MILF negotiating panel is ready to resume the peace negotiation with its counterpart in the government. Soddy Arabia owns a piece of the Philippines government, too? Murad said it is high time that the peace talks, after it has been stalled for several months, should resume soon to tackle the unfinished agenda, the Ancestral Domain Aspect of the 2001 Tripoli Agreement. The other two aspects, Security and Rehabilitation and Development, were already hurdled by the MILF and government negotiators. Y'know, the Philippines should talk to the U.S. about this "ancestral domain" thing. We've got experience in that area. Why, something like the American Indian reservations seems like just what MILF needs... Early last month, Secretary Norberto Gonzales left for Kuala Lumpur to talk to Al Haj Murad for the early resumption of the peace talks. Murad told Gonzales that the MILF is willing to resume the talks immediately after the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan provided that Malaysia, which has been hosting the peace talks since last year, will be amenable to the proposal. "Now that we've got our Christmas bombing out of the way, we're feeling kind of lazy, so we can chat for awhile.".

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Southeast Asia

MILF prepared for peace, development, and war

2002-11-05

Luwaran/Ummahnews An official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is fighting for self-determination in the southern Muslim heartlands of the Philippines, said yesterday that the MILF was preparing for war as much as for peace and development in Mindanao. Maybe more, you betcha! Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, vice chairman of the organisation, said if the government troops continue to launch aggressive military campaign in many parts of Mindanao, an escalation of the armed hostilities to a full-blown war is not a remote possibility. "If that situation happened the MILF should not be blamed. Our forces are religiously observing the General Cessation of Hostilities of 1997 and the Kuala Lumpur Security Accord of 2001 entered into between the MILF and the GRP." They're maintaining an armed gang in opposition to the country's government, and they can't be held responsible for their own actions... He accused the AFP [Philippine Armed Forces - Ed] of conducting military operations in the guise of pursuing criminals. However, under the current ceasefire agreement, he stressed, police and military actions against criminals shall continue throughout Mindanao, provided prior coordination with MILF officers and commanders in the area should be undertaken in order to avoid confrontations. "But this has never been done and is being continuously violated," he added. Often when the crooks are MILF members, we might add... Since the signing of the Tripoli Agreement last year, which provided, among others the strengthening of the ceasefire, the MILF has been observing this truce religiously. Cutting people's heads off is part of their religion... The Philippine army has however intensified its military offensive against the MILF since last month in various parts of Mindanao. "Despite this war situation, the MILF is busying itself to invite donors for the development of the region as the alternative to war and bloodshed," said Murad. Those donors... Would they happen to be Arabians?

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