Misuari wins vote in southern RP

Misuari wins vote in southern RP

MANILA (AFP): Former Moro rebel leader Nur Misuari was
declared winner yesterday of a vote for governor of a Moslem
autonomous region in the southern Philippines, the official
election body said.

"We wish to congratulate the winning candidates for governor
and vice-governor, Professor Nur Misuari and Guimid Matalam,"
Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Bernardo Pardo told a
news conference.

President Fidel Ramos also congratulated Misuari, chairman of
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), for winning Monday's
vote in which he and his running mate, Matalam, ran unopposed.

A week earlier the 55-year-old former political science
professor had signed a peace pact with the Philippine government,
ending a 24-year campaign for a separate state in the south that
left 120,000 dead.

Misuari's election is the start of a planned three-year
reconstruction period for Mindanao, home to 16.8 million people
including most of the 3.5 million Islamic minority.