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By Salim Ali, Contributor
THE talk of war breaking out
again coming from Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leaders and
Eid Kabalu, the rebel group’s spokesman, reasserting their
commitment to fight for independence, are angry words spoken out of
frustration, observers think.
Amina Rasul views all the scary
stuff as a dangerous poker game. (See “Worrisome IMT poker
game”)
Some observers have given a
meaning to the granting of bail to Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
chairman Nur Misuari. He has been in detention and not allowed to go
out on bail for years.
Is there a deal between the
Arroyo administration and Misuari?
Says an item in Luwaran, the
official website of the MILF:
“Before Misuari was released
from detention in Manila, many people in Sulu expected him to stay
with them there. But this expectation might not happen after all.
Misuari was reportedly considering Cotabato City or Davao City as
the two most probable places where he will take up his residence and
once again direct the affairs of the MNLF which is now badly hit by
serious internal wrangling.
“Recently, erstwhile
secretary-general of the MNLF Muslimin Sema, now mayor of Cotabato
City, assumed the chairmanship not only of the MNLF-Executive
Committee but the original MNLF, which is still led by Misuari.
“Many if not most of his
comrades and followers have the intense desire to join the
mainstream government and also its armed forces and police. In the
forthcoming Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) election,
Muslimin Sema wants to be a candidate for governor of the ARMM.
Hatimil Hassan from Basilan is also aspiring for the same position,
and so does with Alvarez Isnaji. Misuari is also groomed by some
quarters identified with the government to be the government
candidate for the forthcoming elections in the ARMM.
“An MILF officer, who requested
anonymity, told Luwaran that Misuari is welcomed in Central
Mindanao, saying that it has always been the view of the MILF to see
him free again.
“He said in late 2001, the late
MILF chairman Salamat Hashim even asked the Organization of Islamic
Conference to find a country where Misuari can proceed from
Malaysia, where he had a temporary sojourn.
“‘We want him close to us for
the sake of unity,’ he stressed, adding, however, that such unity
will not be at the expense of one group bowing down to the other.
“However, no report has been
received from Davao City whether Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is amenable
to the stay of Misuari there. But Duterte is close to Misuari and
chances are that he will also be welcome there.”
Not mentioned in the Luwaran item
is that Chairman Misuari is close to the heart of Libyan leaders,
while the MILF is the rebel group that is said to be closer to the
Malaysians.
Some Mindanao Muslims fear that
war will indeed break out again as the government and the Philippine
military are seeing that the MILF will not accede to using
Philippine constitutional processes to create a state for the
Bangsamoro homeland.
To be continued
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