A challenge to the MILF, as well as to Aquino and Deles

The following is an article I wrote on an interview with Moro Islamic Liberation chairman Hashim Salamat published in the reputable magazine Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) on March 28, 1996, years before Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda gained notoriety after his 9/11 New York attack.

Salamat’s official title then, which current MILF Chairman Murad Ibrahim dare not assume, was Amir Al-Mujahideen, “Commander of the Holy Warriors,” his name preceded by the title Ustadz, or teacher of Islam. Salamat died in 2003, reportedly as his health suffered because he had to be continually on the run after President Joseph Estrada ordered an all-out war against the MILF. His ideas, though, still constitute the MILF’s ideology and goals. The Bangsamoro Mujahid: His Objectives and Responsibilities, which he wrote in 1985, has been required reading for all MILF members and fighters.