Nur Misuari poses problems for Malaysia, RP
Nur Misuari poses problems for Malaysia, RP
Julia Yeow, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
The capture of Philippine Moro rebel leader Nur Misuari posed a
problem on Monday for Malaysia, which wants to deport him quickly
but has been asked by Manila to hold onto him for a while.
The government said on Monday it was preparing to deport
Misuari, but was studying a request by Philippine President
Gloria Arroyo that it put the troublesome former governor on
trial for illegal entry.
"At this point in time, the move is on for deportation as this
is a Philippine internal issue," home affairs press secretary
Rohaizad Abdul Rahman told AFP.
"However, because Misuari has broken local laws, the
Philippine government has requested for us to look into the
matter first."
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said on Sunday she wished
to see Misuari remain in jail in Malaysia pending a trial rather
than be returned to the Philippines, where a rebellion he
allegedly led killed 113 people last week.
"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," Arroyo told AFP.
"I am sure the investigation will take some time. Malaysia
will be dealing with him (but) personally, I want him to stay in
a Malaysian jail."
"With Misuari gone, I think the return to normalcy would be
very rapid," Arroyo said.
This makes him a wanted man that nobody appears to really
want, analysts say.
"He is in a sort of no-man's land," political analyst A.B.
Shamsul told AFP.
"Support for Misuari has become almost non-existent because no
government wants to take the risk of association which might
indicate sympathy for Islamic terrorists," Shamsul said.
"Malaysia wants to have as little to do with him as
possible ... and the Philippines obviously doesn't want him
back."
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Misuari would not be
granted asylum by Muslim-majority Malaysia, which gave him and
his guerrillas sanctuary in the early 1970s.
He criticized Misuari's Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
faction for failing to develop the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM), where he had been governor since signing a peace
treaty with Manila in 1996.
Last week, Misuari fled after allegedly masterminding a series
of attacks on security installations in southern Jolo island in
which at least 113 people died. He was arrested on Saturday off
an island in Malaysia's Sabah state.
Misuari reportedly staged the revolt after Arroyo backed a
rival MNLF faction for the ARMM governor's post in elections on
Monday.
Manila's ambassador to Malaysia said Monday although Misuari
was wanted by the Philippines government, requests for him to be
handed over to Manila would only come after Malaysia had carried
out investigations.
"The situation is that he was arrested by Malaysian law and so
the problem has to be handled first under Malaysian procedures,"
Jose Brillantes told AFP.
Malaysian and Philippine authorities are also looking into
Misuari's possible involvement in last year's kidnappings by Abu
Sayyaf guerrillas from the Philippines of 23 people including 10
Western tourists in dive resorts off Borneo island.