Libyan Ambassador Salem Adam said yesterday they rejected a request from one of the factions of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to grant asylum to Nur Misuari or negotiate for his early release.
Adam said Misuari’s supporters "agreed that they won’t reject the role he played in the front, but we ask them to accept the reality that he is facing charges and is in jail."
Misuari was the MNLF’s founding chairman who was instrumental in the 1996 peace pact the front forged with the government. An MNLF faction ousted him as chairman in April 2001 due to loss of trust and confidence in his leadership.
He is locked up at a special detention facility in Sta. Rosa, Laguna as he awaits trial on rebellion charges arising from the armed uprising his followers staged in Jolo, Sulu on Nov. 19, 2001.
Libya’s rejection of the request of the "Misuari loyalists" puts him out of the picture as the four MNLF factions, which signed a declaration of unity last Jan. 20, decide on the front’s new leadership.
Libya wants the different factions to "co-share" the MNLF leadership when the front acts as an observer in the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), a pan-Islamic body.
"There was a debate on the crisis of leadership in the MNLF… We told them that we’re appealing to you to solve this problem, so when you attend the next OIC meeting, you will have one group to represent the MNLF. After a long debate they signed a declaration of unity under one umbrella of the MNLF," Adam said.
He said the MNLF’s representation in the OIC is important to its economic development.
Meanwhile, Adam clarified that Libya did not initiate the "unification meeting" of the MNLF factions but was merely approached to mediate.
He said leaders of the MNLF factions were invited to go to Tripoli between the last week of February and March for another meeting.