Government preparing for repatriation of Misuari — GMA

President Arroyo said yesterday the government is preparing for the repatriation and eventual prosecution, on charges of armed rebellion, of rebel leader Nur Misuari, now held in a Malaysian jail.

The Chief Executive made the remark a day after Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said the detention of Misuari has put Malaysia in a tight spot and feared his prolonged detention could sour ties with Manila.

"We are already preparing... where to put him, how to arrest him, what charges to file. We’ll be ready for Misuari upon a mutually-agreed period, which will not be very long from now," Mrs. Arroyo said during her regular press briefing at Malacañang.

The President said she does not want to repay the "very good cooperation" it has received from Malaysia by imposing on Mahathir to detain Misuari for too long a time.

"If his continued stay in Malaysia becomes a burden to their government, we are already preparing to receive him and to put him in jail," she said.

Manila understands that Kuala Lumpur may not have a solid case against Misuari or may not be inclined to prosecute him in a Malaysian court, she added.

"My understanding is Misuari is now being interrogated," she said. "So at the end of the interrogation, I suppose that the Malaysian government will be able to decide whether they have a convictable case against him... or to decide that even if they do, they would rather that we attend to our cases first."

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao had said that Misuari may be jailed in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija or in Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna when he is repatriated to face the rebellion charges against him.

The President said Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo is in close communication with Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Jose Brillantes on the situation in Malaysia.

The foreign office has asked Kuala Lumpur to allow a representative of the Philippine embassy to visit Misuari, who is being held in an undisclosed location for illegally entering Malaysia.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Assistant Secretary Victoriano Lecaros told the official National Broadcasting Network that Brillantes "has a standing request" to visit Misuari.

The request "will be considered by the Malaysian authorities and normally, we do grant visits by the embassy representatives," said Malaysian ambassador-designate Mohamad Taufik.

Also yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo said Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has expressed their position of non-interference in the issue of Misuari’s contested leadership of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Indonesia chairs an eight-nation monitoring committee that oversees the implementation of a 1996 peace agreement between the government and the MNLF.

Misuari was then chairman of the MNLF and he was subsequently named chairman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as part of the peace agreement.

However, after five years as ARMM governor, Misuari failed to deliver his promises of progress and development in Mindanao, frustrating his colleagues in the MNLF who accused him of mismanaging the MNLF and the ARMM.

In April, MNLF leaders ousted Misuari as chairman and replaced him with a 15-man executive council, headed by physician Parouk Hussin, whom Mrs. Arroyo eventually endorsed as the administration candidate for the ARMM governorship.

Hussin won the ARMM gubernatorial elections on Nov. 26 and was sworn in as ARMM governor on Dec. 3.

ARMM officials subsequently discovered missing funds and records as well as numerous unpaid bills with hotels, restaurants and suppliers.

Misuari claims, however, that he remains MNLF chairman and that the ARMM elections which chose his successor violated the 1996 peace pact.

He is believed to have instigated an attack on military detachments in Sulu on Nov. 19 in an effort to disrupt the elections but the military quashed the rebellion and hunted down Misuari, who fled to Sempiras island where he was caught on Nov. 24.

Meanwhile, Sen. Blas Ople urged the government to be decisive in repatriating Misuari to face the rebellion charges here. — With a report from Aurea Calica