Police allow fugitive Filipino rebel leader's family home

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

The family of the fugitive leader of a rebel group who commanded a siege on a city in the Philippines’ Muslim south last year that claimed some 300 lives will be allowed to return to his residence in the area – but only on threat of arrest.

Nur Misuari has been on the run since the September 9 attack. As the anniversary approaches army and police reinforcements have been arriving in Zamboanga City - a predominantly Christian city in the majority Muslim south - to repel any new siege by Misuari's Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) forces.

Zamboanga City Police Senior Superintendent Angelito Casimiro told reporters Thursday, "If there are no warrants of arrest then it's their [the family’s] right to occupy their property, but they will be invited to the police station to shed light why they are in the area."

He added, however, that anyone who enters the property of MNLF chairman Misuari in Zamboangoa's San Roque village - will be held in custody for investigation or questioning.

Philippines authorities have ordered Misuari's arrest, charging him with rebellion and human rights violations for allegedly ordering the September 2013 siege, when the MNLF - under his leadership - laid siege to Zamboanga to protest a peace deal between breakaway group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government.

While the siege left some 300 people dead and over 100,000 displaced, nearly 10,000 homes were burnt with the damage estimated at over $4.5 million (P200 million).

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.

Casimito said Thursday the house remains Misuari’s property, unless it becomes included or attached to the charges against Misuari and a court rules in favor of the government taking possession of it. Government security forces raided Misuari’s home after a local court issued a search warrant in October 2013.

Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, spokesperson for the Zamboanga Peninsula Police, said some evidence - including explosives, bomb components, firearms and vital documents – had been found inside and seized. Authorities said the documents were enough to link Misuari to the attack that led to an almost three-week standoff and had been turned over to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Emmanuel Fontanilla, who claimed to be an MNLF spokesperson, said the raid on the Misuari residence was illegal, citing the 1996 peace agreement between the MNLF and the government. He also questioned the manner in which the raid had been conducted, saying they had not been informed about the warrant and that the house was empty.

Authorities believe that Misuari – who has remained at large for almost a year - is hiding in southern Sulu province, as photos posted on an MNLF website last month showed him in full battle gear with an automatic M16 rifle, delivering a message with his top commanders and armed followers behind him.

He 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."

By Hader Glang

www.aa.com.tr/en