Omar Ali gazes sternly at each journalist in the room. The former mayor of Marawi in Mindanao, south Philippines, said he no longer believed that the bloody conflict in Marawi could end peacefully. I don't know. So many people have died, the city is in disarray," said Ali.

The Maute was familiar to this man, whose nickname is Solitario. He is related to the Maute family through the marriage of his younger brother, Fahad 'Pre' Salic, to Rasmia Romato