ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - – Authorities arrested a fake representative of the United Nation (UN) who was tagged behind the bloody Zamboanga crisis, in a joint police and military operation in Cagayan de Oro City at dawn yesterday.
Daniel Xavier, a former US Navyman, was captured by combined operatives of the regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the intelligence unit of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, according to Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, spokesman for the Police Regional Office 9.
Huesca said Xavier was collared at about 3:30 a.m at a bus terminal in Barangay Bulua. It was not known whether the suspect was trying to board a bus to escape when the authorities arrested him.
Xavier has a standing arrest warrant for allegedly violating the Philippine laws on crimes against humanity and rebellion. He was brought to the regional headquarters of the CIDG.
Huesca said the CIDG had filed a case against Xavier and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari in connection with the Zamboanga crisis.
The siege left more than 200 MNLF members killed, while government forces suffered 24 fatalities and about 120 wounded.
At least 12 civilians were killed and 72 others were wounded during the three-week standoff between the government soldiers and MNLF rebels in September.
The police said Xavier, who posed as a representative of UN, had assured Misuari and the MNLF of the UN’s support in his declaration of independence.
The UN had denied Xavier as their representative.
The CIDG regional office said days before the Zaboanga siege, Xavier was sighted with Misuari in the city and in Indanan town in Sulu when the MNLF leader declared his Bangsamoro Republik.