InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - Ameril Umra Kato, the rebel leader who broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, has supposedly suffered a “mild stroke,” the military said Friday.
Colonel Prudencio Asto, public affairs chief of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said Kato suffered the stroke "three days ago" and the military has offered to treat the 70-year old rebel leader at its hospital in Camp Siongco.
Prudencio said the message to Kato was coursed through a media organization.
Kato has formed his own Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters but been staying in MILF territory.
The rebel leader has over 80 warrants for his arrest, stemming from accusations he led attacks on civilian communities in 2008 that sparked a close to two-year long resurgence in fighting that displaced up to 700,000 persons in central Mindanao at its height.
Despite this, Asto said they would release Kato once he recovers as a “peace-building measure.”
"At least we're able to show our peace offering to him. We need peace, not war," Asto said.
There has, however, been no word yet if the military offer has been accepted.
