Gov.
Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said, Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari is ill and has holed up in
Sulu province.
“We
have received information that Misuari is in Sulu and that he is sick. I would
not know his sickness, but all we know is that he is somewhere in a
municipality and a barangay in Sulu. He is being tracked by our police forces
so that he can’t leave there,” he told reporters.
President
Benigno Aquino 3rd earlier said that the Department of Justice is readying
criminal charges against Misuari and his followers who occupied several
barangays in Zamboanga City for two weeks. More than hundred people were killed
in the clashes that shut down the city.
He revealed that
Misuari duped his followers by telling them that they will be joining a peace
rally in Zamboanga City. He also made his troops believe that the UN
Peacekeeping Force will give them each a gun and P10,000.
“These people were
deceived and misinformed. One of Misuari’s men who surrendered to us is telling
us the true story but I can’t name him just yet,” Hataman said.
As of Tuesday, the
MNLF rebels are still holding 14 hostages after 16 days of fighting.
Rep. Celso Lobregat of
Zamboanga City lamented that the fighting had displaced at least 120,000
people.
Lobregat admitted that
Zamboanga City is a 
strategic place for Misuari to launch such an offensive
because the city is known for its high economic activity and its coastline
stretches for 130 kilometers.
strategic place for Misuari to launch such an offensive
because the city is known for its high economic activity and its coastline
stretches for 130 kilometers.
“If they do such a
thing in Basilan, Sulu or Tawi-Tawi, nobody from the media will go there to
follow them for coverage. Zamboanga, on the other hand, is a stable economic
hub”.
“Basically they did it
there to get international attention,” he surmised.
Violence is not the
answer. So many people have died and the city also lost a lot. Misuari should
be charged in court, Lobregat added.
Source: Manila Times
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