‘Seizing people, selling them like cows against Islam’

From the Manila Times (Feb 10): ‘Seizing people, selling them like cows against Islam’

Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari on Saturday has declined to talk about the MNLF’s continue attack against the extremist Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu province.

Misuari just said that kidnapping people and selling them like cows is intolerable and could not be accepted.

“We don’t like to harbor these criminal activities on our homeland because this is against the law of God; against the law of  Islam and against the Koran,” Misuari said that shortly after he arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, where he attended as a permanent observer of the Parliamentary meeting of the 52 member-countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Karthoum, Sudan.

He also refused to speak regarding the development of the assault and the three foreign hostages that reportedly are now in the custody of the MNLF.

“I don’t know. I just arrived. I’ll make an inquiry to this problem,” Misuari told newsmen.

On Tuesday, Malacañang announced that the government did not sanction the attack by armed men of the MNLF against the kidnappers believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf.

Reports said that MNLF went to the Abu Sayyaf base in Patikul, Jolo to demand the release of Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani and his Filipino crew.

The clash broke out after the kidnappers freed cameraman Ramelito Vela and audio technician Rolando Letrero after eight months of captivity.

Misuari said that the MNLF, which signed a peace treaty with the Philippine government in 1996, has totally ignore and condemn the framework agreement made by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“The framework agreement has nothing to do with the peace agreement. It is an offshoot, I would say, of the conspiracy between the Philippine government and the Malaysian government to derail our peace treaty agreement,” Misuari said.

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/41165-seizing-people-selling-them-like-cows-against-islam