Nur Misuari, outgoing governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), formally sought the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on November 30.

Sultan Sadar Elly Velez Pamatong of the Royal Sultanates of Mindanao, a practicing international lawyer, formally filed the petition for Misuari's political asylum, or assistance, with the UNHCR's offices in Geneva, Kuala Lumpur and Washington.

In an e-mail sent to Gulf News, Pamatong said he filed the petition on instructions secretly sent by Misuari from a detention facility in Malaysia.

Attorney Andrew Painter of the UNHCR in Washington committed himself to move as quickly as possible to see to it that Misuari's rights under the 1951 Refugee Convention and Protocol are upheld and protected by the Malaysian government and the free world, said Pamatong.

Painter has alerted UNHCR's offices in Geneva and Kuala Lumpur regarding Misuari's petition, Pamatong said.

Misuari has "right of passage" under the 1951 UN Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, of which the Philippines, is a signatory, argued Pamatong.

In a seven-page petition filed to UNHCR in Washington, Pamatong also hit Malaysia's action against Misuari.

The Malaysian government has no internationally sanctioned authority to hold Misuari in detention, said Pamatong, adding the latter fled from the Philippines in order to explain to the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) that his group was actually the one attacked by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The Philippine government called for the filing of rebellion charges against Misuari, believed to have led the attacks on an Army headquarters, and several police and military detachments in Jolo on November 19.

"Despite Malaysia's recognition of MNLF's status of belligerency coupled with Misuari's record as Unesco's Peace Prize Awardee, Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir, a Muslim like Misuari, and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo claim that Misuari is a terrorist‚ and as such entitled to no asylum anywhere in the world," said Pamatong.

"Misuari cannot, and never can be, considered a terrorist," said Pamatong.

Arroyo recently offered Misuari the ambassadorship to Turkey. "It is simply ridiculous to offer a very honourable diplomatic position to a 'terrorist' who is at the same time a Unesco peace awardee," said Pamatong.

As ARMM governor, Misuari unleashed his force against the Abu Sayyaf, said Pamatong, adding that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) wanted to keep the hostage-taking group alive to keep its annual budget high.

Further, Pamatong said the ASG is serving the interest of the Philippine government because the Philippine government can use the presence of the Abu Sayyaf Group to ask for more financial and military assistance from the United States, claimed Pamatong.

"To brand me as a terrorist, is no different from calling Jefferson a terrorist because I am simply following his belief that it is the right of a people to alter or abolish a government that has ceased to advance their interest and aspirations.

"I am therefore challenging the president of the United States to give me a chance to prove my lifetime commitment to the cause of freedom and democracy," Misuari was quoted as saying in the petition filed by Pamatong.