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Malaysia Not a Haven for Terrorists
By Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA, Nov. 26 (IslamOnline) - The Malaysian Government will not allow the country to become a hiding place for any terrorist outfit or its leaders, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Saturday.
Mohamad said this firm stand covers Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari as well. Misuari was arrested on Saturday in Malaysian waters, while attempting to escape from the Philippines.
Misuari's MNLF had staged a bloody comeback to armed struggle after failing to implement the promises he made during his five year tenure as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Philippines authorities said on Saturday that Misuari's sudden return to armed conflict was due to the elections that were held in the ARRM region last Sunday.
The Malaysian prime minister said Kuala Lumpur once extended help to Misuari and the MNLF to find an amicable solution to their problems with Manila.
"But, that was then. The problem had been solved," Mahathir told reporters. "But when he was appointed governor [of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao] Misuari shirked his responsibilities. He did not do what he was supposed to as a leader by bringing development to the region. Instead, he spent more time overseas and in Manila than in bringing progress and development to the people. So, we no longer feel obliged to help him and the MNLF."
Mohamad, better known as Mahathir in Malaysia, was speaking before the inspector-general of Malasian police announced Misuari's arrest.
He said Misuari and the MILF's struggle were not altruistic and that their fight was not a fight for independence.
Mahathir was referring to the peace accord signed in Kuala Lumpur four months ago by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Meanwhile, President Arroyo said she would prefer Misuari to remain in Malaysian jail rather than have him deported to Manila. She did not say whether the Philippines had asked for the repatriation of Misuari.
"We will let Malaysia investigate him first for the violation of their own laws and charge him, dispose of him in accordance with their own laws," the president told Agence France Presse (AFP) in a telephone interview.
"I am sure the investigation will take some time. Malaysia will be dealing with him. Personally, I want him to stay in a Malaysian jail," she added.
Manila-based newspapers said Misuari was not wanted in Malaysia or in the Philippines and that his future sparked uncertainties between these two countries.
Kuala Lumpur said it had completed deportation procedures of the jailed former governor turned rebel.
Misuari was caught sneaking into Sabah after supposedly instigating an uprising that left at least 113 people dead, most of them his followers.
But Kuala Lumpur, which earlier said Misuari was considered a "national security threat," vowed to repatriate him because they do not want Malaysia to be "a hiding place for terrorists."
"If he is kept in Malaysia, we will be accused of harboring him or even meddling in the internal affairs of the Philippines... The Philippine government wants him. We will send him back," said Malaysian deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Misuari fled to Malaysia from Sulu where he allegedly instigated his loyal followers and some leaders of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group to attack military detachments on November 19 in an apparent bid to disrupt today's ARMM elections.
Malaysia, one of the Organization of Islamic Conference's (OIC) Committee of Eight - which is supervising the 1996 peace agreement that Misuari signed with the government, deplored the Sulu attack and slammed Misuari for failing to uplift Muslim Mindanao after five years as ARMM governor.
Even the OIC appeared to have been exasperated with Misuari for failing to fulfill his promises and recognized the 15-member council which ousted him as MNLF chairman in April.
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