RP to formally ask Malaysia to return Misuari

Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. said yesterday the government is ready to formally ask Malaysia to return detained rebel leader Nur Misuari.

"The Philippines is now ready to take back Nur Misuari. As to the date and other circumstances, that is pursuant to protocol arrangements," Guingona said.

The Vice President said both Manila and Kuala Lumpur have yet to decide whether Misuari would be brought back by Malaysian authorities or fetched by Philippine authorities.

Guingona made the announcement shortly after President Arroyo ordered him and presidential adviser on the peace process Eduardo Ermita to "iron out the details" of Misuari’s repatriation.

But the foreign office refused to give a hint on when Misuari would be repatriated.

Sources, however, said the foreign office is awaiting the arrival of presidential adviser on special concerns Norberto Gonzales from Malaysia before senior Cabinet officials decide on the details of the repatriation.

The Cabinet cluster tasked to "iron out the details" were at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), presumably to meet about the repatriation.

Aside from Guingona and Ermita, the cluster is composed of National Security Adviser Roilo Golez, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina and Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao.

At the same time, the President re-assigned her military adviser and senior aide-de-camp Brig. Gen. Alberto Braganza as new commander of the 7th Infantry Division, based at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija where Misuari will supposedly be detained.

Mrs. Arroyo also said she remains in contact with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad but refused to reveal whether they discussed the schedule of Misuari’s repatriation.

Misuari was arrested on the Malaysian frontier island of Sempiras off Sabah on Nov. 24, five days after the military repulsed some 600 of his men who attacked military installations in Jolo, Sulu.

Misuari was supposedly on his way to Saudi Arabia, where he hid in the 1970s as his men in the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) fought a 24-year separatist war in Mindanao.

Shortly after his arrest, Mrs. Arroyo asked Mahathir to detain him a while longer as his men clashed with government troopers in Zamboanga City on Nov. 27.

Mahathir agreed to hold Misuari for violating Malaysian immigration law and detained him in an undisclosed location, supposedly in Sabah, for illegal entry.

But Malaysian officials said they can only legally hold Misuari for 30 days and Manila should take custody soon to avoid a "souring" of bilateral relations.

Misuari has also applied for refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees but Manila, which has cooperated fully in previous UNHCR activities in Asia, has objected to the application.

But Malaysia declined to allow UNHCR representatives to interview Misuari, whom the Malaysians consider a "national security threat."

Gov. Parouk Hussin, who was elected last month to replace Misuari as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslin Mindanao (ARMM), also objected to the rebel leader’s application for refugee status.

"He does not qualify for the status of a political refugee," Hussin said. "Refugee status is only granted to people in countries where there is an ongoing civil war and their return will endanger their lives."

Hussin said Misuari ought to show his face to the people of Mindanao, especially Muslim folk, who have remained impoverished despite Misuari’s promises of progress and development over the past five years.

Misuari was named ARMM governor after he signed a peace agreement with the government ending the MNLF separatist rebellion.

But Parouk said majority of former MNLF guerrillas were disillusioned with Misuari’s failure to fulfill his promises, prompting 15 influential MNLF leaders to oust him and replace him in April with a 15-man executive council.

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), which brokered the 1996 peace pact, has recognized the leadership of the MNLF Council of Fifteen but Misuari claims he remains the legitimate MNLF chairman.

Guingona had earlier said the Indonesia-led OIC Committee of the Eight, which monitors the implementation of the 1996 peace pact, has agreed to recognize Hussin as the new MNLF chairman.

The committee reached the agreement at the sidelines of an informal ministerial meeting on the Israel-Palestinian conflict in Doha, Qatar on Monday, Guingona said.

Guingona said Indonesian Foreign Minister Nur Hassan Wirajuda, who chairs the committee, is expected to come to Manila to inform the government of what was discussed at Doha. – With reports from Perseus Echeminada