Misuari accuses govt anew of failing to honor 1996 peace deal

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Nur Misuari, leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that signed a peace pact with the government in 1996, on Wednesday surfaced to renew his accusation that the government reneged on its word in the agreement. "We want freedom from the government. We don't need a limited freedom," Misuari said in Zamboanga City where he met with about 200 former rebels and supporters, some from as far as Davao del Sur province. "I have gone to all of the most dangerous places in Mindanao to tell our people to pray to almighty Allah for freedom. I call on our people to consolidate their unity and solidarity for freedom," he said. Misuari also spoke with his loyal MNLF leaders at the Lantaka hotel in downtown Zamboanga before attending a prayer in the nearby village of Santa Barbara. Misuari, joined by supporters and former rebels-turned-government soldiers, chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) as they marched to the village. "We really want our freedom back. The government was not really sincere in implementing the peace agreement it signed with us. We want our freedom and we want independence," one of Misuari's supporters, Abdulkadil Imdani, said. Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat held a closed-door meeting with Misuari at the Garden Orchid hotel. Zamboanga was previously being claimed as part of the ancestral domain of the MNLF and residents had voted twice against the inclusion of their villages to the Muslim autonomous region. Lobregat said he told Misuari that Zamboanga is a peaceful city and that residents had rejected two plebiscites in the past. Thousands of residents on Monday also rallied against attempts by Manila to include eight villages in Zamboanga City in the draft ancestral domain deal it signed last month with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a breakaway faction of the MNLF. "I have told the (MNLF) Chairman (Nur Misuari) that in Zamboanga, we always live in harmony and we always live in peace. We have no wall between us, we live in harmony and we are in unity, Christians, Muslims and Lumads (indigenous peoples) alike," Lobregat said. The Supreme Court temporarily stopped the formal signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain with the MILF, which was supposed to take place in Kuala Lumpur last Aug. 5. Misuari said his group has nothing to do with the peace talks between the government and the MILF. "We are not involved in the peace process between the Government of the Philippines and the MILF. We are not part of any agreement between the government and the MILF," he said. The MNLF, under Misuari, signed the peace deal with Manila in September 1996 ending decades of war. After the peace agreement was signed, Misuari became the governor of the Muslim autonomous region. But despite the peace accord, there was a widespread disillusionment with the weak autonomy they were granted. Under the peace accord, Manila would have to provide a mini-Marshal Plan to spur economic development in Muslim areas in the South and livelihood and housing assistance to tens of thousands of former rebels to uplift their poor living standards. Misuari is now facing rebellion charges after his followers attempted to overrun a major military base in Sulu province and another group held hostage over 100 people in Zamboanga City in 2001 in an attempt to stop the elections in the Muslim autonomous region. He fled to Sabah, his former refuge, but was arrested by the Malaysian authorities and sent back to Manila. He is currently out on bail. - GMANews.TV