MANILA, Philippines --- Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF) founding Chairman Nur Misuari yesterday appealed to Malaysia to
settle the Sabah standoff peacefully and warned that his group will come
to the aid of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III’s followers if blood spills.
“I hope they will not harm them. They (Kiram’s followers) are our
brothers. If one drop of their blood is spilled, we might be forced to
come to their aid,” Misuari said.
“Please don’t touch them, give them a friendly and brotherly treatment,” Misuari appealed.
Misuari was in Zamboanga City yesterday for the MNLF leadership
meeting, which he said was attended by some 2,000 leaders from across
Mindanao to discuss various issues facing the Bangsamoro people.
When he was in Jolo, Sulu, over the week, Misuari said that what he
heard was that the group of the Crown Prince Rajah Muda Agbimuddin
Kiram, younger brother of Kiram, crossed the sea to the island because
they were allegedly promised to be settled in Sabah by Prime Minister
Dato Seri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Addul Razak.
Misuari appealed to the prime minister to exercise prudence in dealing with the people of the sultan.
“This should be handled by cooler heads,” he said, adding it would
also be good to await the coming election in April in Malaysia to see
who will be the new prime minister.
Misuari also said the group of Rajah Muda could have gone to Sabah to show their impatient over their claim.
Meanwhile, an ally of Kiram appealed to the Malaysian government
yesterday to extend a brotherly Islamic tolerance to the Moro group
still holed up in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Abraham Julpa Idjirani, secretary general of the sultanate and
spokesperson of Kiram III, spoke with the Manila Bulletin Thursday.
On the news report about a Friday (today) deadline said to have been
issued by Malaysia for the group to leave Sabah, he did not respond
specifically about it.
Rather, he reiterated that the rajah muda and his followers will not pull out from their journey home to Sabah.
“I just spoke five minutes ago to the aide-de-camp of the crown
prince and also with his son. They told me they are doing fine,” said
Idjirani at about 2:05 p.m. Thursday.
As he acknowledged the tolerance shown by the government of Malaysia
to the Moro group who sailed to Lahad Datu on February 11, in exercise
of their proprietary rights over the oil-rich island.
“We want to thank Malaysia for being tolerant to the sultan’s people,” he said.
On the other hand, he appealed to Malaysia for more tolerance to the brother Muslims.
“We appeal to Malaysia to be more patient and prolong their Islamic tolerance to their fellow Muslims,” said Idjirani.
He said in Islam, forcing people to go hungry is un-Islamic,
referring to the Malaysia security forces’ blockade of food supply for
the rajah muda and his group.