MNLF chief renews independence demand: Lawyer

MNLF chief renews independence demand: Lawyer

Agencies, Manila

Philippine Muslim chief Nur Misuari has renewed his demand for
independence for the country's five million Muslim minority and
will seek the help of the United Nations to achieve his goal, his
lawyer said on Thursday.

The demand means that Misuari -- currently detained on illegal
entry charges in neighboring Malaysia -- has effectively
abandoned the peace agreement he signed with the Philippine
government in 1996.

"He told me he wants no less than independence, no less than
the decolonization of the Bangsa Moro (Muslim) homeland," Elly
Pamatong said in an interview on Manila's ANC television network.

"He instructed me to file a petition for ... independence with
the decolonization unit of the political department of the United
Nations. The position is he wants to pursue his original demand
for independence," the New York-based lawyer said.

Manila filed charges of rebellion against the renegade
chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) last month
after hundreds of his followers attacked military posts on
southern Jolo island in a failed uprising.

Misuari led a 24-year MNLF revolt for an Islamic state in the
south of the mainly Catholic Philippines until 1996 when he
signed the peace accord and assumed office as governor of an
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The region, comprising five largely Muslim provinces and one
city, enjoys limited autonomy.

Misuari boycotted the Nov. 26 elections called by Manila to
choose new ARMM leaders and about 500 MNLF guerrillas loyal to
him rose in revolt.

He was later arrested in the neighboring east Malaysian state
of Sabah and remains in detention while Kuala Lumpur and Manila
ponder his fate.

Pamatong said last week he had filed a petition with the
offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the
United States and in Geneva seeking political asylum for Misuari.

Misuari's guerrilla army was estimated to number 30,000 at the
height of the MNLF rebellion in the 1970s but dwindled after
power struggles split the Front into factions. About 7,000 MNLF
fighters were integrated into the army and police following the
1996 accord while several thousand others stayed in their
villages, holding on to their guns, under Manila's live-and-let-
live policy.

Military officials estimate less than 1,000 rebels took part
in the Jolo uprising and in fighting later outside Zamboanga
city, and say they do not believe Misuari could count on much
more than that number to join him in his renewed struggle.

The rival Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is
holding peace talks with the government, is estimated to have
about 15,000 fighters.

The smaller but more radical Abu Sayyaf had about 1,200 men at
the start of the year but the military says its ranks have
dwindled to less than 1,000 following battlefield losses.

Manila's ambassador to Kuala Lumpur said on Thursday the
Philippines is not ready to take Misuari back from Malaysia.

Ambassador Jose Brillantes told AFP his government had
indicated that it wanted the rebel leader to remain in Malaysia
for the moment.

A report in Malaysia's Sun newspaper on Thursday quoted a
highly-placed source as saying Misuari would be deported by the
end of the week.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said late on Wednesday
Misuari's presence was an unwanted burden for the country, and
Malaysia would deport him as soon as Manila was ready.