Old rebel with a cause that won't go away
Nur Misuari has let it be known he's not done with his mission to create a Philippine Muslim republic by launching a deadly siege on Mindanao
When Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari declared an Independent Bangsamoro Republik in the southern Philippines last month, with himself as president, authorities dismissed it as the ranting of a discredited has-been.
The action was a provocation and highly symbolic since the port city is home to descendants of Spanish colonisers who once belittled Misuari's Muslim ancestors as "Moros" - like the Moors of Spain - and repeatedly tried but failed to conquer them.
The MNLF raid has yanked Misuari back to centre stage. But not everyone, including fellow Muslims, are applauding him, especially when photos emerged showing male civilians tied together with ropes and an MNLF fighter pointing a gun at the head of a little girl he was using as a human shield.
The MNLF action took place on the eve of crucial peace talks between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) - a rival southern Muslim force that broke away from the MNLF to protest against Misuari's peace agreement with Manila back in 1976.
"He's a megalomaniac," said a prominent Moro analyst.
"Misuari wants the revolution to just be all about him. If his goal is to gain sympathy, he has isolated himself or his group even more, even from his own Moro community."