MANILA: A radical commander opposed to peace talks has a month to decide whether to stay in the Philippines's largest Muslim rebel group or be expelled with a few hundred loyalists, a rebel leader said Sunday. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front's problem with one of its most hardline commanders, Ameril Umbra Kato, has raised concerns whether the 11,000-strong group can deliver on any accord that can emerge from its negotiations with the government to settle a bloody decades-long rebellion in the southern Philippines. Security forces have been on alert amid Kato's possible breakaway from the main rebel group, which has observed a truce with government troops. Western countries led by the United States have backed the peace talks, hoping battlefields could become economic growth centers instead of possible breeding grounds for foreign and local extremists. Rebel chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said his group has continued to woo Kato but must decide whether to impose sanctions on Kato and his men if the efforts fail on or before Malaysian-brokered talks with the government resume April 27-28, he said. “We can't afford to have a gray area,” Iqbal told The Associated Press. “We told him he has to reply on or before the resumption of the talks.” Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said the chances of the talks with Kato succeeding was “admittedly very dim at this time” but the main rebel group has not given up on repairing the first ever-known serious rift among its ranks. Amid differences with the main rebel group's armed wing, Kato formed his own group of a few hundred followers, including about 100 armed fighters, a few months ago but suggested he remained under the rebel front. He has opposed talks with the Manila government, saying the negotiations have gone nowhere, Iqbal said.
