‘Anwar met Misuari several times’
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein confirms rumours that the opposition leader met the Moro National Liberation Front chieftain several times.
Leven Woon, FMT
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today revealed that Opposition Leader and PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim met up with Philippines’ Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari several times before the Lahad Datu incursions.
“I was told that he has met with (Nur Misuari) several times, but I cannot confirm how many times they have met,” he said.
“But whether it was Anwar or third parties who wanted to take advantage of the situation, I would like to remind them that the people, especially those in Sabah, are with us,” he told reporters after launching the Gombak BN Youth machinery today.
He said this when asked to comment on reports, especially in pro-Umno blogs, that suggested that Anwar’s meetings with Nur Misuari allegedly had links with the invasion of Lahad Datu by followers of the self-claimed Sultan of Sulu in February.
Hishammuddin said the government’s upcoming measures to get to the bottom of Lahad Datu incursions, be it in the form of a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) or a white paper, would provide a platform for the authorities to investigate individuals and third parties over their roles in the invasion.
“It could be an RCI, it could be white paper, we must decide on this because the incursion is a very complex issue.
“And when I say third parties, it does not only involve individual like Misuari who has been making comments, but also organisations like (Philippines Islamic militant group) Abu Sayyaf and (regional terrorist group) Jemaah Islamiyah,” he said.
A group of self-styled Royal Sulu Army, claiming to be the followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, landed in Lahad Datu village of Kampung Tanduo on Feb 9 to lay claims over Sabah.
They clashed with Malaysia’s security forces earlier this month after a month of futile negotiations. Since then, 63 Sulu gunmen have fallen while 408 of them have been arrested.
Misuari first came into media limelight over the incident when he offered to mediate between the Sulu gunmen and the Malaysia forces.
Since then, he had been accused of instigating the Sulu siege in a bid to slow down the Southern Philippines peace deal, of which he denied.
Umno bloggers have suggested that a timeline showing Anwar’s meetings with Misuari, as well as his mentions of Sabah in his ceramahs, indicated that he had prior knowledge of the Sulu invasion.
The bloggers also mentioned a leaked intelligence report from the Philippines which mentioned the Anwar-Misuari meetings.
Anwar however has denied any such knowledge although he admitted meeting Misuari. Earlier this week, he told a ceramah that the BN government would be targeting him over the Lahad Datu issue for political purposes.
