Murad Ebrahim, rebel who found path to peace
How Murad Ebrahim went from the Afghan battlefields and a meeting with Osama bin Laden to honoured guest of the Philippine president
As military leader of the largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines, Murad Ebrahim cut his teeth as a guerilla fighter on the battlefields of Afghanistan, meeting mujahideen hero Osama bin Laden during the war against the Soviets.
Last week, Murad was a guest in the rather grander setting of the Philippine presidential palace, mingling with President Benigno Aquino, foreign envoys and Muslim leaders.
"Never in my wildest dreams since I was a child or when I joined the Bangsamoro struggle more than 40 years ago [did I imagine] that one day I will see the interior of this building that once housed the Spanish and American governors general and now the presidents of the Philippines," Murad declared.
In his black business suit, the stocky rebel chief was a far cry from the battle-scarred guerilla who once tried shooting down a Philippine Air Force plane with an old rifle and who once commanded one of the most active battle zones when the Philippine military nearly lost the war over Mindanao.
But then Murad's life largely reflects the course of the war for independence in the southern Philippines.
Last Monday, the 64-year-old leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed a peace deal that serves as a roadmap to forming a new autonomous region in the south.