MANILA (AFP) updated version - Malaysia today deported renegade Filipino Muslim leader Nur Misuari to the Philippines, where he faces charges over an armed revolt that left more than 100 people dead.

Misuari and an aide arrested with him in Malaysia flew into the Philippines accompanied by arresting officers, and were immediately whisked to a police camp in Santa Rosa, south of Manila, police said.

President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told reporters that Malaysian authorities officially handed the fugitive to Filipino officials before they were flown out of Kuala Lumpur in a C-130 military transport plane.

Police said six other detained Misuari aides were brought back to the Philippines separately and were later taken under tight security to a suburban Manila jail.

Misuari, 60, and his seven followers were arrested in Sabah on Nov 24 for illegal entry after fleeing a short-lived rebellion in the southern Philippines island of Jolo that left more than 100 people dead.

Manila charged Misuari with inciting the armed revolt, and he faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had laid out the deportation plan on Saturday, but the details were kept under wraps for Misuari's own safety, Tiglao said.

"The president was grateful to Mr Mahathir for honoring our laws," Tiglao said.

Asylum option rejected

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Kuala Lumpur had always intended to repatriate Misuari despite suggestions by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference that he be given asylum in a third country.

"We have kept our word and our commitment to the Philippines government," he said in Kuala Lumpur.

Manila in turn had given an undertaking that Misuari would be dealt with "respect, dignity and according to justice", he said.

"Misuari has to face the consequences of the law of his own country. I do not think the Philippine government will do anything that will deny him his right to defend himself and his right to obtain justice in a fair and balanced manner," Syed Hamid said.

Philippine Interior Secretary Jose Lina said Misuari would be temporarily held in a center originally built for deposed president Joseph Estrada, who is on trial for corruption and is now detained in a suburban Manila military hospital.

A "speedy, impartial and public trial" awaited Misuari, Lina said, adding that he would be entitled to liberal visitation rights.

Lina said they would ask the courts to have Misuari tried "preferably near an area where he is presently detained" to prevent his followers from pressuring witnesses.

Major role

Vice President and Foreign Minister Teofisto Guingona said he also supported "humane treatment" for Misuari who had played a major role in a ceasefire between Muslim rebels in the south and Manila.

"After all, this man has also rendered service to the government," he said. "Whether he likes it or not, he influenced the course of history in Mindanao."

Misuari led his separatist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in a rebellion for an independent Islamic state in the 1970s. In 1996, he signed a peace accord with Manila, which later saw his transformation into a governor of a limited Muslim self-rule area in the south.

Misuari's MNLF followers on November 19 attacked government posts in Jolo days before elections to choose Misuari's successor as governor.

A week later, his nephew Julhambri Misuari, attacked military installations in nearby Zamboanga city. They also seized more than 100 civilian hostages who they later traded for safe passage to an MNLF camp outside the city.

A court today issued an arrest warrant for the younger Misuari and 10 of his aides, who are still believed holed out in the MNLF camp.

Tiglao said the military remained on alert in the south, but stressed Misuari's forces had been neutralized with many of them considering surrender.