By Manny Mogato
MANILA, April 1 (Reuters) - The Philippines' largest Muslim separatist rebel group has expelled the leader of a breakaway group, a rebel source said on Friday, a move that could complicate talks to end more than four decades of conflict.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has expelled Ustadz Ameril Umbra Kato for organising a separate armed group and disobeying MILF policies, said a senior rebel leader who declined to be named because he was not authorised to release information.
The government and MILF met in February for their first peace talks since President Benigno Aquino took office in mid-2010, shortly after news of the splinter group emerged. [ID:nSGE71908S]
"The MILF central committee has reached a decision to expel Ustadz Kato after he refused to disband his armed group and place himself under our control," the MILF official said.
"As we speak, the central committee is communicating with the government's peace panel to inform them about the MILF decision."
Both the government and MILF have said Kato's armed group posed a threat to security and stability on the ground in Mindanao as well as a risk to the peace process. [ID:nSGE718036]
On the MILF's website, a statement dated March 31 said the group "is in the last stretch of its internal dialogue with Ameril Umbra Kato to determine whether he will continue or forego with his so-called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters."
Marvic Leonen, the government's chief peace negotiator, said the panel had received information the MILF leadership had decided to expel Kato, but was still waiting for an official communication from the rebels.
"We will issue an official statement as soon as the government peace panel gets a copy of the MILF resolution on Kato's case," Leonen said.
The separatist conflict, one of two long-running insurgencies that have hobbled development and investment in the Southeast Asian nation, has killed 120,000, displaced 2 million and stunted development in the deprived but resource-rich area.
In August 2008, Kato was a key figure behind an outbreak of violence after a deal creating an ancestral homeland for Muslims was nullified by the Supreme Court.
He led attacks on Catholic-dominated villages in the central region of Mindanao, displacing more than 750,000 people at the height of the conflict.
(Editing by John Mair and Daniel Magnowski)
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