Mahathir urged to send Misuari to third country
(AFP) An associate of detained Muslim leader Nur Misuari today repeated appeals to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to exert his influence and allow the former governor safe passage to a third country.
"Mahathir is a very strong leader and whatever he says goes. That is why I have been addressing my appeals to him," Elly Pamatong, a US-based lawyer who claims to represent Misuari, said.
"If there is anyone who can save Misuari, it is Mahathir, who is influential. Not the United Nations, not the OIC (the Organisation of the Islamic Conference), not Malaysian courts," he told AFP .
Pamatong said he hoped the premier would be wise in making a decision of not sending Misuari back to the Philippines, a move the lawyer said was tantamount to a death sentence.
"For the New Year, I pray for mercy from the Malaysian government not to send a Muslim brother to his death," he said.
Request not accepted
Mahathir on Saturday had said Malaysia would not entertain a request from Misuari's family for a safe passage to a third country.
"The appeal by family members is not for us to determine because this is our undertaking that anybody involved in such activities, we will not give shelter," Mahathir was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
The rebel leader's third wife, Tarhata Misuari, was earlier granted permission to visit him on Thursday for the first time since his detention.
Pamatong said Misuari's second wife arrived in Malaysia on Sunday and was awaiting approval from authorities to visit the guerrilla-turned-governor.
"I have drafted a request for the family and myself, as his lawyer, to meet him but they have yet to reply," he said.
"Mahathir is a very strong leader and whatever he says goes. That is why I have been addressing my appeals to him," Elly Pamatong, a US-based lawyer who claims to represent Misuari, said.
"If there is anyone who can save Misuari, it is Mahathir, who is influential. Not the United Nations, not the OIC (the Organisation of the Islamic Conference), not Malaysian courts," he told AFP.
Pamatong said he hoped the premier would be wise in making a decision of not sending Misuari back to the Philippines, a move the lawyer said was tantamount to a death sentence.
"For the New Year, I pray for mercy from the Malaysian government not to send a Muslim brother to his death," he said.
Request not accepted
Mahathir on Saturday had said Malaysia would not entertain a request from Misuari's family for a safe passage to a third country.
"The appeal by family members is not for us to determine because this is our undertaking that anybody involved in such activities, we will not give shelter," Mahathir was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
The rebel leader's third wife, Tarhata Misuari, was earlier granted permission to visit him on Thursday for the first time since his detention.
Pamatong said Misuari's second wife arrived in Malaysia on Sunday and was awaiting approval from authorities to visit the guerrilla-turned-governor.
"I have drafted a request for the family and myself, as his lawyer, to meet him but they have yet to reply," he said.
Misuari's followers launched an uprising in the southern Philippine island of Jolo in November in a futile attempt to derail elections that ended Misuari's five-year hold on the governorship of a Muslim self-rule region.
Misuari fled after the short-lived rebellion, and was arrested with six followers off an island in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island on Nov 24.
