Nur Misuari, a charismatic Muslim leader who set the Philippines' south ablaze with rebellion decades ago, is back doing what he does best after a less-than-successful fling with peace.
At the age of 71, the former academic is orchestrating a stand-off in the southern port city of Zamboanga that has claimed more than 100 lives and put him back in the national spotlight.
"We don't want to be part of the Philippines anymore," Misuari told supporters in his Jolo island stronghold on August 12 as he declared himself the president of the "Bangsamoro Republik" and railed against national government authorities.
"Their presence in our homeland is illegal, unlawful, illicit. They should pack up and leave."
A firebrand orator from an influential clan of the Tausug, a warrior-like seafaring tribe, Misuari rallied thousands of fellow Muslims in the early 1970s to take up arms for a separate state in the southern Philippines.
He was continuing a tradition for Muslims in the south of the mostly Catholic Philippines who had for centuries resisted outside Christian rule -- whether that be Spanish, American or Filipino.
Misuari was a young political science professor at Manila's prestigious University of the Philippines when he established the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to launch a war for independence.
The conflict, which eventually took on other forms with the emergence of other rebel groups, has gone on to claim about 150,000 lives.
Misuari went into Middle East exile after a 1976 truce, then returned a decade later following the fall of dictator Ferdinand Marcos to begin negotiations with democratic governments in Manila.
He eventually agreed to a peace pact in 1996, with the MNLF laying down its arms in return for self-rule in parts of the southern Philippines and Misuari as the autonomous region's governor.
Political life less successful for the revolutionary
But life for Misuari as a bureaucrat and politician would prove to be far less successful than as a revolutionary leader.
As head of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), he was finally in a position to help alleviate devastating poverty, corruption and violence in the south, and work to end the oppression that the millions of Muslims there feel.
Instead, he established a reputation among the political elite, the national media and some Muslims as an aloof administrator who was more concerned about his own interests.
They argue he wasted the hundreds of millions of dollars in development funds he controlled.
"Some say he blew his chance, that he did not perform well, that he did not deliver, that he failed his people," Jesus Dureza, who advised two past Philippine presidents on Muslim issues, told AFP.
The governor was notorious for spending most of his time away, including weeks at a time with a large retinue at plush Manila hotels or on Middle East tours, said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Manila-based Institute for Political and Electoral Reform.
Nevertheless, Misuari undoubtedly retains some support and influence.
"Nur is still an icon to some Muslims," Dureza said.
He and Casiple said Misuari was still able to tap into powerful emotions among many Muslims in the south of feeling oppressed and their dreams of independence.
His status as the founder of the rebellion would also always ensure respect.
However, they said many also realise that Misuari's motives for instigating the Zamboanga crisis may be driven more by personal interest and a fear of becoming politically irrelevant.
He sent an estimated 200 gunmen to Zamboanga in an effort to derail a planned peace deal with the region's remaining major Muslim rebel group, the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which split from the MNLF in 1978.
Under the envisaged peace pact, a new autonomous region largely controlled by the MILF would replace the MNLF-brokered one.
"They fear that they might be outside the mosquito net," Dureza said of the MNLF leadership, using a Filipino expression for total exclusion.
However, Misuari may have overplayed his hand, according to Casiple, citing his inability to draw much support beyond the Tausug heartlands of Jolo and Basilan island.
"His problem now is that you have a president who is in no mood to negotiate," Casiple said, citing President Benigno Aquino's rejection of a ceasefire offer by Misuari and plans to charge his men with rebellion.
"I think this is the endgame for him."
AFP
Thu Sep 19 2013
![Fire burns for ageing Philippine Muslim rebel leader Fire burns for ageing Philippine Muslim rebel leader](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2013-03/81363787077_295x200.jpg)
![Sultan Selangor jalani pemeriksaan kesihatan untuk pembedahan katarak mata Sultan Selangor jalani pemeriksaan kesihatan untuk pembedahan katarak mata](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81721125507_SultanSelangor.jpg)
Sultan Selangor jalani pemeriksaan kesihatan untuk pembedahan katarak mata
Sultan Selangor Sultan kini berada di hospital untuk rawatan pemeriksaan kesihatan bagi menjalani prosedur pembedahan katarak mata.
Enam MP kekal : Tak adil salahkan Speaker - Gobind
Mengenai keputusan mengekalkan enam kerusi Parlimen bekas ahli Bersatu, Gobind Singh Deo berkata tidak adil untuk salahkan Speaker buat keputusan yang diperuntukkan undang-undang.
![Tokan dadah ditahan bersama dua pucuk pistol di Alor Setar Tokan dadah ditahan bersama dua pucuk pistol di Alor Setar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721123744_tokandadah.jpg)
Tokan dadah ditahan bersama dua pucuk pistol di Alor Setar
Polis menahan dua lelaki dan merampas dua pucuk pistol serta pelbagai jenis dadah dalam dua tangkapan di Taman Lam Foong, di Alor Setar.
![Tiada tempat selamat di Gaza, kata ketua PBB Tiada tempat selamat di Gaza, kata ketua PBB](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-06/51719354914_Destroyedbuildings.jpg)
Tiada tempat selamat di Gaza, kata ketua PBB
Beliau berkata tahap pertempuran dan kemusnahan yang melampau di Gaza tidak dapat difahami dan tidak boleh dimaafkan.
![Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721121786_MuhyiddinYassin.jpg)
Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin
Muhyiddin memberitahu bahawa beliau tidak memfitnah Lim Guan Eng berhubung isu pengecualian cukai terhadap Yayasan Albukhary.
![Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/81712376317_TujuanForensik.jpg)
Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas
Gen HNF4A (Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 Alpha) didapati akan berhenti berfungsi pada tubuh pesakit kanser pankreas.
Pantau Agenda Reformasi: Potensi dan cabaran percambahan e-Sukan di Malaysia
Pengerusi Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS) Negeri Selangor
merangkap Timbalan Presiden Majlis Belia Negeri Selangor
E-Sukan mampu mencetak nama Malaysia di pentas dunia. Memahami potensi, kekangan dan peranan yang perlu dimainkan semua pihak dalam melahirkan lebih ramai pemain E-Sukan yang berjaya, seterusnya menyokong pembangunan industri E-Sukan negara.
SRG cipta sejarah pasukan Malaysia pertama juarai MSC MLBB 2024
merangkap Timbalan Presiden Majlis Belia Negeri Selangor
E-Sukan mampu mencetak nama Malaysia di pentas dunia. Memahami potensi, kekangan dan peranan yang perlu dimainkan semua pihak dalam melahirkan lebih ramai pemain E-Sukan yang berjaya, seterusnya menyokong pembangunan industri E-Sukan negara.
SRG cipta sejarah pasukan Malaysia pertama juarai MSC MLBB 2024
Jualan kereta di Malaysia diunjur cecah 765,000 unit
Persatuan Automotif Malaysia (MAA) melakukan semakan semula berkaitan sasaran jumlah keseluruhan industri (TIV) kepada 765,000 unit berbanding unjuran awal 740,000 unit untuk 2024. Semakan dibuat disokong oleh persekitaran ekonomi yang positif dan jumlah tempatan tertunggak yang masih berada pada tahap yang baik
Kementerian Digital cari kaedah kurangkan kos pelaksanaan sistem e-invois
Kerajaan sedang mencari kaedah mengurangkan kos pelaksanaan sistem e-invois untuk Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana (PKS) selepas sistem itu diwajibkan untuk semua perniagaan pada 1 Julai 2025
Perbelanjaan pengguna dijangka meningkat tahun ini
Perbelanjaan Pengguna Malaysia dijangka meningkat sepanjang tahun ini
dengan unjuran sebanyak RM904.6 bilion, ketika proses pemulihan ekonomi menunjukkan kemajuan pada ketika ini.
dengan unjuran sebanyak RM904.6 bilion, ketika proses pemulihan ekonomi menunjukkan kemajuan pada ketika ini.