Phillippines - Hashim Salamat & the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)

An offshoot of the MNLF that sprang up in 1978 in the wake of the Tripoli-brokered autonomy agreement between Manila and the Moros, the MILF has no word for "compromise" in its Islamic dictionary. MILF troop strength is estimated at between 20,000 and 40,000 by independent analysts, but no one seems to know for sure. The MILF itself claims a force of 120,000 members, 80,000 of them armed in 13 major camps in 7 provinces-while the Philippine government says the group numbers no more than 8,000. The military guesstimates 60,000. DP estimates that the MILF is about 12,000 active fighters with plenty more on call. More than 1,000 Filipino Muslims in its ranks fought against the Soviets during the war in Afghanistan, although Philippine military intelligence says no more than 300 did. When DP paid a visit, we found the MILF to be highly disciplined and equally as radical. The MILF doesn't simply seek autonomy (as the more moderate MNLF has sought) but complete secession of Mindanao from the Philippines and the creation of a fundamentalist Islamic state-and will settle for no less. The Front's military commander, Al-haj Murad, a genial and modest man boasts of possessing six full divisions of soldiers; however, it seems to be a rotating army, with only two divisions on duty at any given time. This may explain the massive gap in estimates of the group's strength. MILF leader Hashim Salamat is a tough guy to get hold of-military commanders and many of the Front's other bellwethers have never set eyes on him-but does give regular religious sermons on radio broadcasts in Mindanao. DP had no problem setting a chin wag and a guided tour at his base camp. The first American in a long time to say hi to the MILF. Salamat received his religious training in Egypt and Pakistan in the 1960s (he was heavily influenced by Syed Abul Ala Mau'dudi of Pakistan's Jamaat i Islami Party and Syed Outh of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood) and formed the Moro National Liberation Front in 1970. His training in the Middle East made him a lot of bearded buddies with bombs, so he had no problem arming his spin-off gangsters when he founded the MILF. These days, the MILF is busy funding itself through the kidnapping of Taiwanese diplomats and Chinese-Filipino businessmen and by attacking Philippine military detachments and burning schools. They also like to bring along high-tech video cameras on their raids so they can pop the footage off to TV stations in time for the 11 o'clock news.

Al Haj Murad

Vice Chairman for Military Affairs, Central Committee & Chief of Staff

Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF)

Tel.: (064) 421 34 86

E-mail: Alhijrah@microweb.com.ph

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