FVR: Nur is RP’s Bin Laden

BACOLOD CITY — Maybe he will also make it to the cover of Time.

Renegade former governor Nur Misuari of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has just been likened to international terrorist Osama bin Laden by former President Fidel Ramos, and for a reason Misuari will not particularly relish.

The former president thinks Nur is as treacherous as Bin Laden, who achieved international notoriety following the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the US.

"He has attracted the condemnation of not just his fellow Filipinos but that of the outside world as a perceived terrorist," he said.

Ramos, who installed Misuari as ARMM governor in 1996, made the scathing remark during a speech at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City yesterday.

He said Misuari must be charged with sedition because he had "interfered with the work" of the Armed Forces and the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.

"He is a government official not fulfilling his duties and interfering in the work of other officials, in this case the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police through the mortaring of the headquarters of the 104th Infantry brigade in Jolo town," he said.

Ramos said Misuari failed to foresee the consequences of his action of turning his back on the government and rallying his men to attack a military camp in Sulu.

"His acts are both tragic and deplorable in terms of the peace and development of the country and the majority of Filipinos," he said. "It is a no-win solution for him because he no longer has the support of his former allies."

Misuari has also lost the support of the Organization of Islamic Conference, he added.

Misuari was elected ARMM governor in 1996 without any opposition after the Ramos administration dissuaded other candidates from running against him.

Ramos had convinced Misuari to return to the fold of the law following the signing of a peace treaty between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Since his election in 1996, Misuari remained ARMM governor through congressional term extensions until this year, when a new law amending the ARMM Act called for elections following a plebiscite expanding the region’s boundaries.

Nine battalions of troops have been deployed in Maguindanao to help the Commission on Elections ensure the holding of a peaceful election in the ARMM on Monday.

Brig. Gen. Roy Kyamko, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the Armed Forces is not taking any chances, in case Misuari and his followers try to stop the regional elections.

"The provincial government, in coordination with the 6th IB, is now initiating measures on how to prevent any group from disrupting the electoral exercise," he said.

On the other hand, Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal said he is confident that the ARMM elections in his province would be peaceful and orderly because MNLF members in Maguindanao are loyal to the "Council of 15," the organization’s collective leadership that had replaced Misuari as MNLF head.

Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, MNLF secretary general and a key member of the Council of 15, said all MNLF commanders in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao are working closely with military units in their communities to prevent Misuari’s followers from moving into the two provinces.

"If ever they are registered voters, they can go out and vote if they wish, but they should behave," he said. "They will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law if they do something bad to disrupt the elections."