MILF vice chair for military affairs dies of heart attack

The vice chairman for military affairs of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Aleem Azis Mimbantas died of a heart attack Thursday night, May 3, 2012, a ranking official of the Front's central committee confirmed.

MILF vice-chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar confirmed the death of Mimbantas who succumbed to stroke at around 10:25 p.m. in a hospital, reportedly in Butig, Lanao del Sur.

Jaafar said the MILF central commmittee, led by Al Haj Murad, will be issung a statement later about the death.
“The Central Committee is issuing an official declaration in writing. As of now, it is enough that I am confirming to you (the death of Mimbantas)," he said.

Mimbantas' last known public appearance was on May 1, 2012 when the new president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Dr. Akihiko Tanaka, visited the Front’s main Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

It will be recalled after the death in July 2003 of Salamat Hashim, the founder and chairman of the largest Moro armed group in the country waging an armed struggle for self-rule, Mimbantas gained the post of Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, the former MILF vice chairman who succeeded Salamat as chairman after he was elected by the MILF central committee.

Last August, Mimbantas was among the senior rebel officials who accompanied MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim in a historic meeting with President Benigno S. Aquino III in Tokyo, Japan.

The MILF is still negotiating a peace agreement with the Philippine government. They recently reached a breakthrough on how the talks would move forward.
Source http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/news/13-top-stories/9851-milf-vice-chair-for-military-affairs-dies-of-heart-attack.html