Military verifying reports on Kato's death

CAMP SIONGCO, Shariff Kabunsuan – The military here yesterday hinted that Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Ameril Ombra Kato was killed by his own men last week.

But Kato’s relatives and companions in the MILF claimed the foreign-trained Muslim preacher even officiated at a traditional congregational worship at a mosque in a nearby town last Friday.

“That’s not true. We even received text messages from him last Friday, telling us to be extra careful because the military might persecute us just because we are his close relatives,” a cousin of Kato said.

The relative said the news about the death of Kato began circulating last Thursday in Tacurong City, where the Army’s 601st Brigade, the military unit that has been hunting him down for four months now, is based.

Col. Marlou Salazar, commander of the Army’s 601st Brigade, said their intelligence units are still verifying reports claiming Kato was killed by his own men during a heated argument in a gathering somewhere in Maguindanao last week.

“We have information that he was either killed by his own men because of the reward money he has on his head, or shot dead over disagreements with his sub-commanders,” Salazar told dxMS radio.

Regional Army spokesman Lt. Col. Julieto Ando said they have yet to gather proof to substantiate reports that Kato was killed.

“That is something we have to verify, validate over and over again,” Ando stressed.

Last August, the military circulated reports that Kato, who studied Islamic theology in the Middle East in the 1970s, was killed during an encounter with government troops in Northern Kabuntalan, Shariff Kabunsuan.

The reports were disproved when copies of a video of Kato and his followers were distributed by his emissaries to different media outlets in Central Mindanao.

Muslim residents in Pigkawayan, North Cotabato confirmed seeing Kato leading a traditional Friday group prayer in a mosque in a marshy area in their municipality two weeks ago.

“His sub-commanders are known for their loyalty to him. They revere him as a true mujahid (freedom fighter). We are sure they would protect him at all cost,” a Maguindanaon farmer, Lucman Ansari, said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the report about Kato having been killed by his followers last week is baseless. “That’s plain gossip,” Kabalu remarked. –With Jaime Laude