Photos Of Fugitive Philippine Rebel Leader Posted Online

Two weeks before the anniversary of a siege on a southern Philippines city that left 300 people dead, photos of the Muslim rebel leader held responsible have been posted on a Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) website.



The photos, dated August 2 and 14, on mnlfnet.com appear to show the MNLF's Nur Misuari - who has since been charged with rebellion and human rights violations - in full battle gear with an automatic M16 rifle delivering a message with his top commanders and armed followers behind him.



According to the website, the fugitive calls "for the unity of all Bangsamoro freedom fighters in pursuit of the complete independence and national self-determination of the Muslim and Animist Lumad natives as well as conscious Christians of Mindanao from Philippine colonialism."



Although the authenticity of the photos has not been verified, senior MNLF leader Habib Mujahab Hashim said he was informed of the gathering August 12 in an undisclosed area of Sulu province by Ustadz Murshi, Misuari's former secretary-general.



Hashim said Misuari maintained his call for independence after a 1996 agreement between the MNLF and government peace panels fell apart.



He also belied military reports that Misuari is outside the country or ailing in Sulu, or that his top commander Ustadz Habier Malik had been killed at the height of the bloody September 13 Zamboanga City siege he is believed to have masterminded, which claimed some 300 lives and left over 100,000 displaced.



"Commander Malik is strong and alive," said Hashim. "We can't disclose his exact location but he is in Sulu, Basilan and the Tawi-Tawi area."



He explained that distance and security reasons had prevented Malik from attending the commemoration of the first anniversary of the Bangsamoro Declaration of Independence, which was proclaimed by the MNLF on July 27 – despite regional government leaders considering it unconstitutional.



The MNLF under Misuari's leadership conducted the siege to protest the peace deal between breakaway group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government. Misuari claimed the new deal - signed March 27, named the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro - is a betrayal of a 1996 agreement between the government and MNLF, has left his organization shortchanged, and granted Muslims in the region lesser autonomy. The Abu Sayyaf was originally a splinter group of the MNLF, but broke away in the early 1990s after the MNLF signed its agreement.



Philippines authorities have ordered Misuari's arrest, accusing him of ordering the siege. He has since been charged with rebellion and human rights violations.



Reacting to text messages circulating during the past week that warn of the presence of al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf members and MNLF rebels in some of Zamboanga City's schools, the MNLF's Hashim said his group has no plans to engage the government in battle in the city or any part of the Zamboanga peninsula.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Zamboanga