MILF Faces Own Turmoil, Reports Of Coup Leak

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 08 Mar) A supposed coup plot to oust the leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), sent rebels and government officials scampering Wednesday to verify the reports.

News of the failed coup allegedly hatched by senior rebel leaders against Murad Ebrahim spread like wildfire in military circle in the southern Philippines.

And if Ebrahim is removed, the five-year old peace talks between Manila and the MILF -- the country's largest Muslim separatist rebel group -- could be in serious jeopardy, especially now that the negotiations are on its final stage.

But Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, said the MILF is intact and that the report could be a ploy by those opposing the peace talks. "There could be efforts to divide the MILF, but our group is intact and we are all united and behind one leader and that is Murad Ebrahim," he told the Zamboanga Journal.

Reports of the failed coup were attributed to Musanip Abdullah, a senior commander of Ebrahim. But the MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said he spoke with Abdullah and denied the reports.

"It is a total lie. I have spoken with Abdullah and he strongly denied everything, and he did not talk to anybody about any supposed coup plot against Brother Murad Ebrahim. It's toilet lie," Iqbal said.

The reports did not say who hatched the supposed coup, but other sources claimed that a small rebel faction led by Samir Hashim, younger brother of MILF founder Salamat Hashim, is one of those opposing Murad's rule.

Hashim, the leader of the MILF's elite 106th Base Command in Maguindanao province, is advocating the establishment of a strict Islamic state in the southern Philippines.

Although Hashim is popular among MILF hardliners, most of his supporters were linked by the military to the Southeast Asian terror network the Jemaah Islamiya.

Among them is Wahid Tundok, tagged as one of those who provided sanctuary to Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani and Dulmatin and Pitono, both JI bomb-makers, who were previously reported hiding inside so-called MILF strongholds in Maguindanao and blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings.

But Kabalu denied the reports about Hashim and Tundok and said they would never launch a coup against Ebrahim.

"Samir will never attempt to unseat brother Murad. He has no capability to unseat brother Murad and he is loyal to the MILF leadership, and this is same also with Wahid Tundok," he said.

The MILF suspended Tundok because of his alleged links with the JI.

Secretary Jesus Dureza, chief peace adviser of President Gloria Arroyo, said he does not have any reports about the failed MILF coup. "I have no reports about it," he said.