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Moro militants admit alliance with ISIS
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) confirmed that it has forged an alliance with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. However, BIFM spokesman Abu Misry Mama said they have not sent any of their members to Iraq or Syria to fight alongside ISIS, or even to train there. Earlier, former president Fidel Ramos said around 100 Filipino Muslims had gone to Iraq and Syria to help ISIS. Mama said, "There is no truth to the reports that we have sent fighters to Syria and Iraq. We do not need to train there because our training grounds in Mindanao are enough already." He said members of the BIFM's armed-wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), did not need foreign training, adding, "In fact, there are also no foreigners in our camps to train us because we can train on our own." While denying the BIFM has sent fighters to Iraq and Syria, Mama said an alliance had indeed been formed between ISIS and BIFM. He said the alliance was finalized through the use of mobile phones and the Internet in July. He said it was BIFM vice chair for political affairs Sheikh Ismail Abu Bakr and the group's Islamic Supreme Council chair, identified only as Kuti, who formalized the alliance. Mama said, "There was also a time that they directly communicated with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In the alliance, we have agreed that we are brothers under the same sky… that if one finger is hurt the entire body will feel the pain." But Mama said his organization did not financially benefit from the alliance. He said, "If we will ask them for money they might send us millions but we are not asking for any." Mama said BIFM funds come mostly from "supportive businessmen and politicians". He said Moro communities also keep the BIFM alive by giving what they could afford. This is not taxation, Mama said, but a "required charity contribution" by the communities to "fund the jihad". "For example, if you till the soil and you harvest 10 sacks you give one sack to the mujahideens," Mama said. Reacting to the ISIS beheading, Mama said it must have been strictly guided by Islamic principles. He said, "You cannot just cut hands and heads because you want to. It is being done as part of a judicial process. Your hands will only be cut if you steal and the beheading is only done to those who killed people as a crime." He said for example, the BIFM had to expel one of its top leaders for the beheading of two civilians in September 2013. Mama said one of those beheaded, 31-year-old Ricarte Dionio, was a policeman — a legitimate target. But he said beheading him was inappropriate and a violation of the rules of the BIFM. He said this caused then BIFM vice chair for political affairs, Muhammad Ali Tambako, to be expelled from the group. Mama said, "The man was a legitimate target but the beheading was unnecessary. What is worse is that the man was beheaded even if he was dead already." Posted by: ryuge 2014-08-23 |
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