Think tank says MILF leaders rejected Marwan, foreign jihadis

MANILA, Philippines — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) leadership had not protected slain terror suspect Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, in Mindanao in recent years as it has been informing the government on "rogue elements," a foreign think tank said.

The report on Marwan by the Indonesia-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) was released earlier this month amid claims by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano that the MILF, with whom the government has signed a peace agreement with, coddled the high-value target when he was killed by police Special Action Force troopers in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in January.

Citing Indonesians and Filipinos who knew him, IPAC said Marwan hid under the protection of officials of the Moro National Liberation Front, the Abu Sayyaf and elements of jihadi network Jemaah Islamiyah and some MILF commanders in different periods since he arrived in Mindanao in 2001.

His movements during these years were cited in United States court documents indicating Marwan and his California-based brother, Rahmat, for aiding and abetting in terror activities.

READ: Marwan told brother about MILF, US spy planes

In 2013, however, Marwan lived under the protection of Ameril Umbra Kato, founder and leader of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) that splintered from the MILF in 2010 over its decision to negotiate anew with the government. The BIFF is known to be sympathetic to the global jihadist campaign.

MILF commander Abdul Wahid Tundok, formerly under Kato of the MILF's 105th Base Command, took in Marwan in July 2006 but asked him to leave that November while remained in contact with him until 2007.

Tundok chose to stay with the MILF when Kato broke off with the militant group.

Kato and Basit Usman, who became Marwan's associate, had long been considered as "radicals whom the MILF leadership found difficult to control," IPAC's analysts said.

MILF, meanwhile, had been helping government forces through a mechanism formed in 2005 known as the Ad-Hoc Joint Action Group, or AHJAG, to "isolate and interdict" rogue elements, criminals and kidnap-for-ransom groups suspected of hiding in MILF areas.

The coordination resulted in the expulsion of key Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf elements from MILF territory and even forced some to return to their home countries.

"The MILF leadership made clear that foreign jihadis were not welcome," the IPAC said, citing Malaysian national Marwan and Indonesians Umar Patek and Dulmatin.

Time of 'Exodus'

Upon the Jan. 25, 2015 SAF operation "Exodus" in Mamasapano, "Marwan was hiding in an area controlled by the BIFF but surrounded by an MILF-controlled area," IPAC said.

The operation ended disastrously with 44 SAF commandos killed in part due to SAF's failure to use mechanisms set up under the peace process such as the AHJAG, the report said.

"[MILF] leaders see themselves now as the aggrieved party, blindsided by a counter-terrorism operation that no one told them was coming," the anti-terror organization said.

IPAC also said President Benigno Aquino III as commander-in-chief, the SAF and officials behind the operation should have considered the costs involved in choosing not to inform the MILF while the Bangsamoro Basic Law was being deliberated.

"If [Marwan] had escaped yet again, there would be another chance to capture him," IPAC noted. "It is not clear there will be another chance for peace if this one collapses."

MILF fighters, however, should also be held accountable for violating humanitarian law once investigations will find that the trapped SAF troopers were executed after they were wounded, IPAC said.

'Strengthen AHJAG'

Authors of the paper stressed that Marwan's reputation as a high-level terrorist was blown up by the government, the media and especially by the US Rewards for Justice Program granting a $5 million bounty for his head.

READ: Think tank: Marwan's reputation blown up

The think tank warned that Marwan would not be the last criminal who will seek refuge in Mindanao and boost terror activities there.

Basit Usman, for one, remains at large while support for the Islamic State, or ISIS, continues to grow among the BIFF, Abu Sayyaf and extremist groups.

"The only possible solution is to strengthen existing mechanisms like AHJAG for government-MILF coordination in pursuing people like him," IPAC said.

"Without the MILF's active involvement, no long-term solution to extremism in the Philippines is thinkable," it added.