Nur suspended; hunt on

COTABATO CITY – The military has launched a manhunt for former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari, who was stripped by President Arroyo yesterday of his powers as governor of the autonomous Muslim region.

"Nur Misuari is now the subject of a manhunt by mi-litary authorities because of what his men did," Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Diomedio Villa-nueva said here.

The President ordered Misuari’s suspension a day before she was to meet with US President George W. Bush at the White House to discuss US assistance against terrorists in the Philippines.

But a top Misuari aide dismissed the suspension as "insignificant" since Misuari and his faction in the MNLF have resumed hostilities despite a 1996 peace agreement brokered by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

"He is now fighting the government and he is not giving up," lawyer Ran- dolph Parcasio told The STAR in Davao City. "The sus-pension is now insignificant."

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said Misuari was also ordered to explain within 48 hours the circumstances behind the attacks last Monday by his followers in Jolo, Sulu, which have so far claimed 62 lives and wounded 85 others.

For his part, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said Misuari can be held liable for rebellion for the deadly attacks, which also resulted in the death of seven civilians and wounding of 45 others.

"It’s either sedition, inciting to sedition or even rebellion, and rebellion is not bailable. I hope ARMM Governor Misuari will cease and desist from pursuing whatever designs he’s contemplating," Perez said, noting that government lawyers from Sulu and Manila are already conferring on the matter.

The military has dispatched two Army and one Marine battalions to Sulu to track down the renegade rebel leader.

Meanwhile, Malaysia, an influential member of the OIC that is also brokering the ongoing peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has tightened security along its border with the Philippines.

Diplomatic sources also reported the OIC team monitoring the 1996 peace agreement will conduct its own investigation on the attacks and present a report to the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers.

The OIC monitoring team is composed of the ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Libya, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.

At least two ranking Malaysian officials, deputy prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and defense minister Najib Razak, have lamented the resumption of hostilities and said it would "bring further suffering to the Muslims in southern Philippines."

"This is what saddens me and perhaps eventually, the turn of events will bring more suffering to the Muslims in the southern Philippines," Badawi was quoted by Malaysian media as saying.

"It does not serve the interest of Muslims nor the Philippine government to cast aside the peace agreement ... Time has come for us to be concerned about the welfare of the people in the south rather than continue a military conflict," Najib said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Parcasio, who was just recently booted out as executive director of the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA), said the attacks in Sulu signaled the resumption of hostilities.

"This is now the signal (for the resumption) of the struggle for independence and the full decolonization of the Bangsamoro homeland because government is no longer interested in implementing the peace agreement signed in 1996," Parcasio said. Misuari had repeatedly claimed that the ARMM elections, which have been postponed several times in the past five years, should again be postponed so he can retain his position as ARMM governor.

Parcasio said the democratic elections for the governor and the legislative assembly of the ARMM was a repudiation of the peace accord signed in Jakarta in September 1996.

Misuari was also ousted from the MNLF chairmanship by 15 prominent leaders of the formerly separatist front allegedly because he failed to deliver progress and development to Mindanao over the past five years despite billions of pesos allocated for the purpose.

Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, a member of the MNLF’s new leadership Council of Fifteen, called Misuari a "renegade brother" and assured they would not condone his actions.

"Our official stand is that misunderstandings on the implementation of the peace agreement must only be resolved through peaceful dialogues with the national government and the OIC," Sema said.

Influential MNLF leaders Sulu Gov. Yusoph Jikiri and Marawi City Mayor Solitario Omar also separately told The STAR they are loyal to the new MNLF leadership and will not embark on anything that would only complicate the peace process.

"The people responsible for the atrocities in Sulu belong to a minority only, a small group that does not even speak of the real sentiments of all sectors in the province," Jikiri said.

The MILF has also said it was "disturbed" at the developments in Sulu but assured it would continue to respect the ceasefire it signed with the government on Aug. 7 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

"Count out the MILF in whatever Misuari is doing now," said MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu, adding that "unity pacts" it forged with the MNLF were meant only as leverage in its talks with the government and not for more hostilities.

Meanwhile, at the Senate, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon warned the administration against further "babying" Misuari.

"We have babied Misuari for the last 25 years. We’ve been talking to him for the last 25 years but look at what he’s done," Biazon said, deploring Misuari’s alleged alliance with Abu Sayyaf bandits in staging the attacks.

Senate President Pro Tempore Manuel Villar Jr. also urged the government to stop Misuari from creating further trouble and push through with the ARMM elections.

"The ARMM elections must push through. We need an ARMM governor and Misuari should be dealt with properly because we cannot do anything more to cancel elections," Villar said.

But opposition Senators Edgardo Angara and Gregorio Honasan warned against carrying out a "purely military solution" to the attack and proposed a combined economic, military and diplomatic solution to the problem. - With reports from Christina Mendez, Roel Pareño, Rey Arquiza, Jess Diaz, Pia Lee-Brago, Aurea Calica, Jose Rodel Clapano, Sheila Crisostomo, Perseus Echeminada, Lino dela Cruz, Delon Porcalla