MILF lambasts Misuari's claim Malaysia promotes disunity among Muslims

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 21): MILF lambasts Misuari's claim Malaysia promotes disunity among Muslims

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Wednesday claims by Moro National Liberation Front chair Nur Misuari that the government of Malaysia had used the MILF to strengthen its claim on Sabah and Malaysia is responsible for promoting disunity among Moro people.

Mohammad Ameen, head of the MILF secretariat, said Malaysia, the Philippine government and the MILF, believed that Malaysia's participation in the peace process was for the good of fellow Muslims in southern Philippines.

“This is a total lie and completely fabricated. Misuari has committed a serious sin for making such an irresponsible and callous statement against both the MILF and the Malaysian government. He should rectify and atone for this grave sin,” Ameen said Wednesday.

This was Misuari’s latest verbal assault on the MILF and Malaysian government carried by Al-Jazeera YouTube and several Malaysian mainstream media in Kuala Lumpur.

Misuari has repeatedly criticize the government and the MILF for coming up with the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro.

He also lambasted Malaysia for interfering in the internal affairs of Philippine government by joining the peace process and acting as third party facilitator to maintain its hold over Sabah which is being claimed by the Sultanate of Sulu.

Ameen stressed that Malaysia is promoting unification of Moro fronts in southern Philippines and not disuniting it as claimed by Misuari.

Ameen reminded Misuari that it was Malaysia which called for the formation of the Bangsamoro Solidarity Conference (BSC) in 2002 in order to unite the factions of the MNLF and the MILF and to promote common position among them especially in their dealing with the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

“How could Malaysia use the MILF to strengthen its claim over Sabah when Sabah is never made part of the agenda of the peace talks since 2001?” Ameen asked.

Ameen also told Misuari that Malaysia did not volunteer to facilitate the GPH-MILF peace negotiation, but it was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2001 who requested it to act as in-between the two parties when the negotiations resumed after President Joseph Estrada’s all-out war against the MILF in 2000.

Then President Arroyo, in her first foreign trip since becoming president after the ouster of President Estrada, traveled to Kuala Lumpur and officially asked Malaysia to facilitate the GPH-MILF peace negotiation.

“Malaysia merely responded sincerely to the request of a good neighbor,” he explained, adding that the Sabah issue has never been part or issues of the peace talks.

“Why is Misuari so eager in backing up the Sabah claim now when throughout his 21 years of peace negotiation with the Philippine government, he never raised that issue and the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement on 1996 never had a reference on the Sabah claim?”

Short of saying that Misuari is now disgruntled for his own making thus the peace agreement with the government he entered into did not work, sourgraping now, Ameen said the MNLF chair is making noise because he does not want the GPH-MILF to succeed.

“It is a pity that Misuari is blaming everybody for the failure of his leadership and growing irrelevance to the Bangsamoro struggle to self-determination,” Ameen said.

“As leader, Misuari has nothing more to prove; it is better for him to rest, write his true memoirs, and allow the new breed of leaders to lead the Bangsamoro people towards the fulfillment of their true aspirations,” Ameen stressed.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=509078