Two factions loyal to Misuari figure in firefight

COTABATO CITY — The compound here of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao turned into a war zone the other night when two factions loyal to ARMM Gov. Nur Misuari figured in a gunbattle that sent villagers fleeing for their safety.

Worse, the dispute stemmed only from a virtually minor misunderstanding between the leaders of the feuding groups: Zenzir Misuari, the governor’s nephew, and Rommel Isnaji, son of the ARMM’s third highest official, Speaker Alvarez Isnaji.

Superintendent Sangacala Dampac, city police chief, said the disarming of Zenzir by the younger Isnaji and his escorts while roaming inside the ARMM compound Sunday night, precipitated the firefight.

Zenzir is employed as a security escort of his governor-uncle, the former chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front, who has just returned to the country from abroad.

Provoked, Zenzir went to their barracks near the governor’s guesthouse, gathered his heavily armed companions, returned to the spot where Isnaji and his escorts were and opened fire with assault rifles.

The two groups, probers said, traded shots for about five minutes.

"It was just fortunate that no one was killed or wounded," said Col. Alejandro Estomo, commander of the 6th Infantry Battalion, the city’s lead internal defense contingent.

The ARMM’s public information bureau could not give more details about the incident, except to say that senior officials of the MNLF promptly intervened and that the dispute had been settled amicably.