MNLF exec denies 'plot' to sabotage peace talks

ZAMBOANGA CITY - A senior official of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) on Wednesday vehemently denied reports that the group provoked Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III to raise his sultanate's claim over Sabah.

Habib Mujahab Hashim, senior leader of the MNLF to the central committee and chairman of the Islamic Command Council (ICC), denied that their group is plotting with former government officials to sabotage the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) by provoking Kiram to raise the Sabah claim.

Abraham Idjirani, the Secretary General of Kiram, branded the allegation as a “complete lie.”

A report by The Philippine Star, quoting sources from Malacañang, said that MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari, former national security adviser Norberto Gonzales, former Tarlac representative Jose "Peping" Cojuangco and senatorial candidate Margarita Cojuangco are Kiram's instigators.

Idjirani said denied that supposed alliance, insisting that the sultanate's claim over Sabah was "unilateral" and based on facts.

“The truth is that the Sultanate of Sulu is the rightful claimant of Sabah based on historical fact,” he said.

Hashim, meanwhile, said that while the MNLF protests the recent signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro they have no intention of sabotaging it. He said that the MNLF is following the legal process in raising its protest against the agreement before the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

“There is no truth to that accusation, that the MNLF is sabotaging their [peace] efforts with the MILF,” Hashim said.

Hashim also stressed that the MNLF supports the peaceful resolution of the standoff between the members of the Sultanate of Sulu and Malaysian authorities.

“We are for the peaceful resolution of the issue. It is between the claimant and Malaysia authorities,” Hashim said.

Up to 300 followers of Kiram are holed up in Lahad Datu, Sabah and have been surrounded by Malaysian forces. Kiram has said his followers would not leave because “Sabah is our home.”

Malaysia continues to pay rent to the Sulu sultanate for North Borneo, which Kiram’s clan claims as ancestral land. The Philippine claim to Sabah has not been resolved with finality. The other day, Malacañang described the claim as “dormant.”

President Aquino is reportedly infuriated with the standoff as it came on the heels of the progress achieved in the government's peace effort with the MILF, where the Malaysian government is acting as a mediator.