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May 21, 2006

Philippines: OIC Muslims Call For Release Of Terrorist Leader

A 16-man delegation from the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), currently in the Philippines, has suggested that a terrorist, Nur Misauri (pictured) should be released from his jail in Laguna in the Philippines, states Deutsche Presse-Agentur, via Monsters & Critics.

The somewhat outrageous decision was today rejected by presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, who said: "This is exclusively within the sole prerogative and wisdom of the court trying his case. On the part of the executive branch, it has extended all the medical assistance and humanitarian treatment to Misuari that is possible under the law, also in deference to the OIC. The rest is left to the independent judgment of the court."

Nur Misauri is the imprisoned chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front, or MNLF. He is not a person to be trusted, and yet for some reason the OIC have claimed that the MNLF is the only legitimate representative of the Bangsamoro or Moro people, who live on Mindanao, the largest island in the south of the Philippines.

The MNLF is not the only group representing Moro people. The Moro National Liberation Front, or MILF, have been fighting for autonomy of the Moro people since its formation in 1977. In October last year, the MILF signed a peace accord with the Philippines government, and the complicated rounds of peace negotiations are still continuing.

However, the MNLF under Nur Misauri has not been so trustworthy. On August 30, 1996, Indonesia brokered a peace treaty between the Philippines government and both the MNLF and the MILF. This treaty aimed to put a stop to fighting which had cost 125,000 lives on Mindanao.

But in November 2001, Nur Misauri had ordered an attack upon an army base on the island of Jolo, which saw 100 people killed. Misauri fled to Malaysia, but was deported from there to the philippines, and he was jailed in 2002.

On November 11 last year, members of the MNLF, acting in conjunction with Islamist terror group Abu Sayyaf, attacked an army patrol, thus setting off an insurgency which cost dozens of lives. The insurgency was finally ended in January.

For some reason the OIC, which represents the interests of 57 Muslim nations, trusts Misauri. On the MNLF website, along with calls for jihad, is a statement, which reads: "The MNLF is recognised by the OIC as the sole legitimate representative of the Bangsamoro people."

Misauri had been, according to MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base, a founder in the late 1960s of the Muslim advocacy group the Mindanao Independence Movement. In 1972 he changed direction, and this group became the MNLF, which engaged in battles until the 1996 peace agreement.

One of the conditions of the 1996 agreement, which has been honoured by the Filipino government, was the setting up of an autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao. After 1996, Misauri had become the governor of an autonomous region, the ARMM (Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao) until his attack upon the Jolo army base five years later. The BBC stated at the time of the Jolo attack that he reason Misauri started the Jolo revolt was because he had been dropped by his party (MNLF) earlier in the year, and was therefore not standing for reelection. Misauri did not want elections for a successor. MIPT states that Misauri's governorship of ARMM was "widely criticised as ineffectual and plagued by corruption".

The current OIC delegation to the Philippines is to assess the progress of the agreements made in 1996. The 16-man team has expressed its disappointment at the slow progress of developments.

A meeting between the MNLF, the OIC and the Philippines government is scheduled for July in Jeddah to resolve issues connected with implementation of the peace process.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 21, 2006 12:11 PM

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