Gov't mulls allowing family visit for captured Misuari
(AFP) - The government may allow the family of detained Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari to visit him, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said today.
"We will consider," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency when asked whether the Malaysia would allow Misuari's family to visit him.
A Misuari associate had said the family of the 60-year old rebel leader had expressed concern over his safety as Malaysian authorities have denied any access.
"The family wants to see him. They fear for the worst since Malaysian authorities have refused to allow any visits," Elly Pamatong, a US-based lawyer who claims to represent Misuari said yesterday.
Pamatong told AFP that the decision to allow Misuari's family to visit him was very much welcomed, adding that he too hoped to meet him.
The lawyer again pressed for an emergency meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to be held in Kuala Lumpur.
"Now Misuari is being condemned even before any trial has been carried out. All I ask is for all 57 members of the OIC to be consulted before he is sent to his death in the Philippines," he said.
No asylum
Mahathir was also quoted as saying today that Misuari would not be granted temporary asylum.
"We cannot entertain asylum seekers. We have given an undertaking that people who carry out terror attacks in their own country and take ordinary people as hostages cannot be given asylum," he said, adding the date for Misuari's deportation had yet to be decided.
"We hope that the Philippine government will accept him very soon because we cannot keep him under detention forever," he was quoted as saying.
Malaysia has repeatedly said it wants to deport the detained Muslim leader as soon as possible, partly because it does not want to be tainted with any connection to what could be seen as Islamic terrorism.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo on Friday rejected an appeal from the OIC for Misuari to be given sanctuary in a third country and instead vowed to put him on trial for rebellion.
Misuari's followers launched an uprising in the southern Philippine island of Jolo last month in a futile attempt to derail elections that ended his five-year hold on the governorship of a Muslim self-rule region.
"We will consider," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency when asked whether the Malaysia would allow Misuari's family to visit him.
A Misuari associate had said the family of the 60-year old rebel leader had expressed concern over his safety as Malaysian authorities have denied any access.
"The family wants to see him. They fear for the worst since Malaysian authorities have refused to allow any visits," Elly Pamatong, a US-based lawyer who claims to represent Misuari said yesterday.
Pamatong told AFP that the decision to allow Misuari's family to visit him was very much welcomed, adding that he too hoped to meet him.
The lawyer again pressed for an emergency meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to be held in Kuala Lumpur.
"Now Misuari is being condemned even before any trial has been carried out. All I ask is for all 57 members of the OIC to be consulted before he is sent to his death in the Philippines," he said.
No asylum
Mahathir was also quoted as saying today that Misuari would not be granted temporary asylum.
"We cannot entertain asylum seekers. We have given an undertaking that people who carry out terror attacks in their own country and take ordinary people as hostages cannot be given asylum," he said, adding the date for Misuari's deportation had yet to be decided.
"We hope that the Philippine government will accept him very soon because we cannot keep him under detention forever," he was quoted as saying.
Malaysia has repeatedly said it wants to deport the detained Muslim leader as soon as possible, partly because it does not want to be tainted with any connection to what could be seen as Islamic terrorism.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo on Friday rejected an appeal from the OIC for Misuari to be given sanctuary in a third country and instead vowed to put him on trial for rebellion.
Misuari's followers launched an uprising in the southern Philippine island of Jolo last month in a futile attempt to derail elections that ended his five-year hold on the governorship of a Muslim self-rule region.
Misuari fled after the short-lived rebellion and was arrested Nov 24 with six followers off an island in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island.
Malaysia provided sanctuary to Misuari's separatist group, the Moro National Liberation Front in the 1970s and 80s.
