Nobody wants Misuari

Nur Misuari has nowhere to go.

President Arroyo wants Malaysia to keep him, but Kuala Lumpur is poised to repatriate him. The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is keeping its distance from him. Even the leadership of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) wants nothing to do with him.

President Arroyo said yesterday she wanted Misuari, suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), to remain in a Malaysian jail for violating that country’s immigration laws.

Misuari was caught sneaking into Sabah after supposedly instigating an uprising that left at least 113 people dead, most of them his followers.

"We will let Malaysia investigate him first for the violation of their own laws and charge him, dispose of him in accordance with their own laws," the President told Agence France Presse in a telephone interview.

"I am sure the investigation will take some time. Malaysia will be dealing with him. Personally, I want him to stay in a Malaysian jail," she added.

But Kuala Lumpur, which earlier said Misuari was considered a "national security threat," vowed to repatriate him because they do not want Malaysia to be "a hiding place for terrorists."

"If he is kept in Malaysia, we will be accused of harboring him or even meddling in the internal affairs of the Philippines... The Philippine government wants him. We will send him back," said Malaysian deputy prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Badawi hinted that Malaysia may not even have to charge Misuari under their strict Internal Security Act.

"It may not be necessary because we are going to send him back," he told reporters in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah where Misuari is supposedly being held after being caught on Jampiras island, near the Philippine-Malaysian border.

Badawi refused to comment on whether Malaysian authorities feared that Misuari’s fellow Tausugs in Sabah would try to prevent his repatriation but the deputy prime minister pledged Kuala Lumpur would "do the right thing."

Misuari fled to Malaysia from Sulu where he allegedly instigated his loyal followers and some leaders of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group to attack military detachments on Nov. 19 in an apparent bid to disrupt today’s ARMM elections.

Malaysia, one of the OIC’s Committee of Eight that is supervising the 1996 peace agreement that Misuari signed with the government, deplored the Sulu attack and slammed Misuari for failing to uplift Muslim Mindanao after five years as ARMM governor.

Even the OIC appeared to have been exasperated with Misuari for failing to fulfill his promises and recognized the 15-member council which ousted him as MNLF chairman in April.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez dismissed the claim of Misuari lieutenant Absolum Cerveza who had said that Malaysia allowed Misuari to leave for Dubai, United Arab Emirates on the intercession of OIC secretary general Ouahid Bekeziz.

Golez said Misuari is definitely under detention in Malaysia and that Cerveza’s claim was only propaganda to prevent further demoralization among Misuari supporters.

Even his former colleagues in the MNLF disowned their former chairman and said he would have to take sole responsibility for the Nov. 19 attacks for which he is now charged with rebellion before a Sulu court.

But MNLF secretary general and Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, a member of the MNLF Council of 15, said the government should be careful to observe due process in prosecuting Misuari to avoid further dismay among the MNLF.

"Our main concern now is how to help our lowly brothers who were duped into carrying out the attack. Some of them are now seeking our intervention for them to be able to return to their communities and live peacefully anew," Sema said.

Another Council of 15 member, Sulu Gov. Yusoph Jikiri, said local Mindanao leaders are more concerned with rehabilitating "beleaguered brothers" whom Misuari supposedly fooled into staging the attacks.

But Mrs. Arroyo said "we can effect his repatriation so that he can face the rebellion charges against him in Philippine courts" after Malaysia is through with Misuari.

"Those responsible for the attacks in Sulu and elsewhere shall be meted out justice," the President added, noting that the military was now monitoring the security situation in Mindanao after Misuari’s followers threatened more uprisings.

However, Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan said Misuari’s arrest will send a strong signal that the noose is tightening around renegade and bandit groups in Mindanao.

"If a governor who has connections was captured because of the cooperation between the Philippines and Malaysia, what more with those who are known only as criminal elements?" Ampatuan asked.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the other separatist group that has signed a ceasefire agreement with the government, apparently also believes Misuari’s arrest could be a positive development.

"His men will probably make some noise but it will not bring them anywhere, especially with Misuari’s arrest. They have no leader anymore. It will not be a strong resistance," said MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu.

Kabalu said Misuari had committed several mistakes, starting from his management of the ARMM to his flight to Malaysia which had already turned hostile to him.

"He knew all the while that Malaysia had already become hostile to him and yet he still sought refuge there. It was a big mistake," Kabalu said.

The MILF spokesman said the only reason that could have pushed Misuari to flee to Sabah was because he was no longer used to life as a rebel.

"Misuari knows the consequences of living a life on the run. He knows that he would be experiencing it again if he stayed in Sulu and he could not take it. That’s why he fled to Sabah," Kabalu said.

Besides, Kabalu said, Misuari was fully aware that when the MNLF’s Committee of 15 ousted him as chairman, "they did it with the blessings of Malaysia and Libya, two of the leading nations of the OIC." - With reports from Edith Regalado, Christina Mendez, Pia Lee-Brago, Ding Cervantes, Aurea Calica