Misuari returns to RP early January — DFA

The Philippines and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) have agreed to repatriate jailed rebel leader Nur Misuari next month, Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona said yesterday. They did not specify a date.

Guingona announced the agreement as Malacañang rejected suggestions that Misuari, who allegedly instigated deadly clashes with the military last month, be allowed to go on exile in a third country.

"A decision has been made that he is to return early next year," Guingona said after the departure of Indonesian Foreign Minister Nur Hassan Wirajuda and Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Amid Albar.

Wirajuda heads the OIC Committee of the Eight which oversees the implementation of the 1996 peace agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which Misuari used to head until he was ousted by his colleagues.

The two foreign ministers arrived on Thursday to confer with President Arroyo and the foreign office on how to deal with Misuari, who has been under Malaysian custody since Nov. 24.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said Wirajuda and Syed Hamid asked the President during a working dinner on Thursday if Manila would consider allowing Misuari to go to a third country.

But Tiglao said Mrs. Arroyo rejected the suggestion and said Misuari would be charged with rebellion after his men attacked military installations in Sulu and took women and children as hostages in Zamboanga City.

The American lawyer of Misuari yesterday called for an emergency meeting of the OIC to decide the fate of the former governor.

"Currently, it appears that the life and death of (Misuari) is being decided only by to or three members of the committee, subject to the approval of a non-OIC member," Elly Pamatong said in a letter to the OIC.

In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian foreign ministry confirmed Misuari would likely be deported by mid-January.

"As what was said by (Syed Hamid), in mid-January or some time next month, that is the tentative date as it is for now," Agence France Presse quoted Malaysian foreign ministry secretary general Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak as saying.

Syed Hamid said late Friday that Manila was currently unable to take custody of Misuari for security reasons, but stressed that Kuala Lumpur was eager to deport him and was only holding him at Mrs. Arroyo’s request.

"We still hold on to the understanding that he must be deported as soon as possible... the sooner, the better, because we do not want to be in limbo," Syed Hamid was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times daily.

"Nur Misuari is neither a refugee nor an asylum seeker. The most important thing now is that we already have an agreement... which is to deport him.

"The timing of his deportation is just an administrative matter," Syed Hamid said after arriving from Manila.

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 on Sulu island.

Misuari supposedly launched the attack in a bid to disrupt the successful Nov. 26 elections for the new governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which Misuari used to head.

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

Shortly after his arrest, Mrs. Arroyo asked Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad 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 unannounced 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 (UNHCR) but Manila, which has cooperated fully in previous UNHCR activities in Asia, has objected to the application.