EDITORIAL - Guns in Misuari’s compound

We know the Abu Sayyaf can raid islands even in neighboring Malaysia. And we know the Islamic extremists are flush with cash after a series of successful ransom kidnappings. But you still wonder where the terrorists buy their guns. Pictures of Abu Sayyaf kidnappers have always shown them heavily armed. Some of them have claimed they buy guns from government troops. This is possible, but there can’t be all that many unscrupulous soldiers doing business with this murderous group.

Yesterday police raided a compound in the outskirts of Zamboanga City. Seized during the raid were crates of grenades and ammunition for rifles and machine guns. The cops were after a suspected gunrunner named Assa Asmawil, and he was supposed to be in a shack in a compound that happened to be owned by the family of Nur Misuari, chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front and governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Asmawil is said to be a relative of one of Misuari’s security aides. Both Misuari and the suspect were not home during the raid, which was conducted amid reports that Asmawil was selling weapons and ammunition to the Abu Sayyaf. Reports from Zamboanga yesterday said a spokesman for Misuari had claimed the bullets were for his security escorts. What about the grenades? Is the governor of the ARMM allowed to stock up on grenades?

Misuari’s camp is reportedly set to file a protest against the raid. But Misuari can’t blame people for suspecting that MNLF members, some of whom have been integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines, may in fact be selling weapons and ammunition to the Abu Sayyaf. Members of the MNLF and its breakaway faction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, have often been accused of supporting the Abu Sayyaf. Some MNLF and MILF members have been in the way of the government offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan. Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are known to have relatives among MNLF and MILF members.

If the MNLF is not involved in gunrunning for the Abu Sayyaf, filing a protest about the raid won’t clear the air. It would be better for Misuari to cooperate with police in the investigation of the presence of that weapons cache in his family’s compound.