Hostages safe in MNLF custody

From the Manila Standard Today (Feb 10): Hostages safe in MNLF custody

Misuari back in Manila, blasts Sayyaf banditry

THE three foreigners who were rescued by Moro National Liberation Front fighters last Tuesday are safe and will soon be reunited with their families, according to an MNLF official who arrived with Chairman Nur Misuari on Saturday.

Gapul Hajirul, MNLF political director, said the three foreign hostages are in the custody of different MNLF ground commanders and are being held in undisclosed locations in Sulu.

“The hostages are safe in the custody of our commanders on the ground and they will soon be reunited with their loved ones,” said Hajirul, who had just returned after traveling with Misuari to Sudan for the eight session of the Parliamentary Union of Islamic Cooperation in Khartoum.

Misuari himself said he needed to be updated on the most recent developments about the three hostages, but Hajirul said the MNLF did not want to bring them out because some parties are interested in grabbing credit for the rescue while other groups are out to abduct them anew.

The three foreigners have been in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf for months and were rescued in Patikul, Sulu on February 5 as MNLF fighters pursued their abductors.

“Ayaw namin ilabas yan dahil maraming naghahangad na grupo diyan [We don’t want to bring them out because many groups also want them],” said Hajirul, who declined to confirm the hostages’ nationalities purportedly because of security concerns.

He said MNLF representatives have already commenced coordination with the embassies of the rescued foreigners for the proper turnover of the hostages, but he declined to reveal further details.

Meanwhile, Hajirul said the call of Malacañang Palace for the MNLF to explain why it was running after the Abu Sayyaf without the government’s consent was alarming because the government could not even stop the Abu Sayyaf, much less restore peace and order in Sulu.

“What can we do when the peace of Sulu is at stake,” Hajirul said of remarks attributed to Presidential Communications Development Secretary Ramon Carandang who supposedly said the MNLF was not cleared by the government to launch attacks in the south.

“I’m sure that at some point, some explanations will be made,” Carandang said in a Palace press briefing.

Misuari, for his part, said in a separate briefing that foreigners and tourists in Sulu have been suffering under Abu Sayyaf banditry.

“These foreigners and tourists have been suffering severely from the Abu Sayyaf,” Misuari told journalists upon his arrival on board a Qatar Airlines flight from Cairo, Egypt.

The 70-year-old Moro leader lamented that the government is ignoring the crimes of the Abu Sayyaf and Moros are very alarmed by the state of affairs in Mindanao and the acts of the MNLF are only meant to protect Bangsa Moro people.

“We are not doing these for the government, but only our people, to restore peace in Mindanao without government initiatives,” Misuari said, adding that Sulu cannot be used as a haven for criminals. “The MNLF can’t accept that, whoever they are.”

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/02/10/hostages-safe-in-mnlf-custody/