Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

440 • MORO LIBERATION FRONTgroup, while Philippine military commanders blamed a renegadeMILF commander.MORO LIBERATION FRONT (MLF). The MLF, also known asthe Moro National Liberation Front, was a nonstate ethnonationalistgroup of Muslim revolutionaries seeking autonomy for theMuslims in the islands of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, aregion covering about 13 provinces in the southern Philippines. Thegroup enjoyed the support of Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi and thechief minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah, Tun Mustapha, andalso received assistance from Iran. While not a material sponsor, theOrganization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), through its efforts atmediation between the MLF and Philippine government or amongMLF factions, did confer moral support in backing the Moro guerrillasas an oppressed Muslim minority.In 1972 Nur Misuari reorganized the Mindanao IndependenceMovement, which had been a relatively passive political group, intoan ethnonationalist and leftist revolutionary organization. Whileseeking autonomy and possible independence for the Muslims of thePhilippines, the MLF was not originally an Islamic fundamentalistgroup. In 1973 the MLF raised 15,000 fighters and captured most ofCotabato Province. In 1974 it captured Jolo Town and nearby NotreDame College in the Sulu islands, which the Philippine armed forceswere only able to recover after first leveling them with naval artilleryand air force bombardments. The offensives of 1973 and 1974 apparentlywere timed to coincide with the Islamic Foreign Ministers’Conferences, held in Benghazi in 1973 and in Lahore the followingyear, to force the Moro issue upon the agenda of these conferencesand to enlist the support of the OIC. On 7 April 1975 three MLFmembers hijacked a domestic Philippine Airlines flight, releasingthe passengers in Manila but holding the plane’s crew and one of theairline’s executives hostage to guarantee safe passage to Libya. Onarriving in Libya on 13 April 1975, they freed the hostages and weregranted asylum by the Libyan government.Although Nur Misuari succeeded in gaining the approval and sympathyof the Muslim states, this in turn created a backlash within thePhilippines. First, the resolve of the central government to crush therebellion grew stronger. Second, Misuari’s tactics and intransigentposition alienated many Muslim supporters within the Philippines,