Key Philippines rebel leader dead
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Salamat, center, was a key player in recent peace negotiations.
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MANILA, Philippines -- The head of the biggest Muslim separatist group in the Philippines has died.
Salamat Hashim was the founder and chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front known as the MILF.
An official for the group has acknowledged that Salamat died on July 13, after suffering a fatal heart attack.
The MILF recently agreed to resume peace talks with the government on the decades-old campaign for a Muslim homeland in the nation's troubled south.
A rebel spokesman has said they are committed to resuming peace talks with the government, despite Salamat's death.
Salamat's renunciation of terrorism last month was one of the key demands made by the government for talks.
The MILF's vice chairman for political affairs, Ghazali Jaafar, told The Associated Press they delayed announcing the death because the MILF had to inform Salamat's relatives and choose a successor.
After a week-long meeting, the top leadership chose the rebel group's military chief of staff, Al Haj Murad, as the new MILF chairman, Jaafar told AP.
The government had issued arrest warrants for Hashim and four other top MILF leaders, each with a 5 million peso ($94,340) bounty, stemming from murder charges over a string of deadly bombings.
The rebels denied involvement, and the warrants were suspended as part of a deal to resume the peace talks.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
