Nur faction tagged for Pagadian blast

The Philippine National Police (PNP) linked yesterday Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Nur Misuari to the bomb blast in a bus terminal that killed three persons and injured 14 others in Pagadian City early this month.

In a report reaching the office of PNP chief, Director General Leandro Mendoza, local Pagadian police disclosed that the bomb explosion that hit Cerilles Bus Terminal, Sta. Lucia District in the city, was primarily aimed at discrediting the newly formed alliance between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the MNLF headed by Dr. Farouk Hussien.

Hussien has dislodged Misuari as MNLF chieftain, who in turn responded by reorganizing his own MNLF forces, among them the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Committee.

Prior to the explosion, police authorities claimed Misuari met with his loyal MNLF sub-commanders at an undisclosed place in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat allegedly for the conduct of terroristic activities.

Also tackled and agreed upon in the said meeting was the bombing of a bus terminal in Pagadian City, the report added.

Those who attended the meeting called by Misuari were Norhan Amil, alias Commander Ramsy, Commander Andy Gandawali, Faisal Taug, and Kalah Nurkabra, all MNLF leaders based in Zamboanga Peninsula.

"The terrorist act was carried out by the newly reorganized Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Committee of the MNLF-Nur Misuari faction," Pagadian City police reported to Mendoza.

Last Sept. 10, Nurkabra, together with an unidentified companion, was monitored conducting casing operations near the Dumalinao municipal hall, Zamboanga del Sur. The group was reportedly planning to bomb the said town hall.

On Sept. 15, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) led by Atty. Friolo Icao Jr., and intelligence operatives of the Philippine Army’s 51st Infantry Battalion, 101st Brigade headed by 1Lt. Danilo Ambi, arrested 57-year-old Johnny Ayani at Barangay Bagaian, Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur.

Ambi was positively identified by several eyewitnesses as the same man they saw planting an explosive underneath one of the units of Cerilles bus lines in Pagadian City.

Misuari could not be reached for comment to answer the PNP allegations.

Intelligence operatives also reported that the ARMM governor had already relocated his families and close relatives to a third country.