Kuala Lumpur may grant Misuari safe passage to third country

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia may reverse an earlier decision to detain fugitive rebel leader Nur Misuari and grant him safe passage to a third country if Manila does not take him back soon, a senior Malaysian official said yesterday.

"It is a possibility that we will discuss thoroughly," Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted as saying yesterday by New Straits Times newspaper.

The change in Malaysia’s position seems to suggest it is running out of patience as the Philippines delays Misuari’s deportation, making it clear he is a wanted man that nobody seems to want.

But a reliable source at Malacañang told The STAR Manila has made preparations to take custody of Misuari in the first week of January to face rebellion and sedition charges. Misuari would likely be detained in a maximum-security facility at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

The source admitted the Philippine government is in no rush to take back Misuari but it also realizes that Kuala Lumpur has grown impatient.

"We really don’t want to rush them but we’re ready for Misuari," the official said, confirming that Manila has in fact officially requested to have Misuari repatriated as soon as Kuala Lumpur has concluded its investigation on the rebel leader.

The official outlined Manila’s detention plans for Misuari a day after Badawi was quoted as saying Kuala Lumpur would mull reversing its decision to detain Misuari at the request of President Arroyo.

Kuala Lumpur had previously said it would not allow Misuari to pass through Malaysia to a third country since he had broken its immigration laws but Malaysian officials have repeatedly said that Misuari ought to be repatriated "as soon as possible."

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said Monday Manila would be ready to prosecute Misuari for rebellion and sedition next month but a Malaysian official reiterated Misuari should be deported "as soon as possible."

RP must accept responsibility — KL

"As we look at it, the Philippines does not want to take responsibility. They just want to wash their hands," a top Malaysian official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

"We do not want him to be here. There could be retaliations from his supporters against Malaysia," the official added.

However, the official said Malaysia does not want to allow Misuari to leave Malaysian custody for a third country, like Saudi Arabia or Libya where he hid at the height of the secessionist war in the 1970s.

"If he gets asylum in another country, he would be free to operate from outside and be involved in gun-running (for his supporters). Malaysia does not want that to happen," he added.

Misuari was founder and former chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that waged a 24-year secessionist war in Mindanao until he signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996.

The implementation of the peace pact is being monitored by the Committee of the Eight of the Organization of Islamic Conference, which brokered the pact.

Government says he reneged on the peace pact and his men launched an attack on three military detachments on Sulu island Nov. 19, resulting in the death of 113 people, about 100 of whom were his followers.

Misuari launched the attacks in an apparent bid to disrupt elections for his successor as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), to which he was appointed after he signed the peace pact.

Misuari also refused to recognize the new MNLF leadership which ousted him from the chairmanship in disappointment over his failure to fulfill his promises of development in Mindanao despite five years as ARMM governor.

His former colleagues in the secessionist movement have since accused him of financial irregularities in the management of the MNLF and the ARMM.

Misuari was caught on the Malaysian frontier island of Sempiras off Sabah and was detained for illegal entry.

On Nov. 27, his men in Zamboanga City clashed with government troopers sent to evict them from a government facility and took dozens of civilian hostages, many of them women and children. – With reports from AFP, Marichu Villanueva, Christina Mendez, Pia Lee-Brago, Edith Regalado and Roel Pareño