(AFP) The wife of Filipino Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari said today she feared her husband may have died while being held by Malaysian authorities.

Tarhata Misuari, 27, is in Malaysia with their three children seeking a visit with her detained husband, but Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has not yet given the green light for the reunion.

"I have not heard from him since the middle of last month. I want to make sure he is still alive," Tarhata, holding back tears and embracing their three children, told AFP from a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

"It is possible he may be dead and that is why they are not letting anyone meet him."

Misuari, 60, was arrested on Nov 24 off an island in Malaysia's Sabah state after launching a short-lived rebellion in the southern Philippine island of Jolo.

The failed uprising was a futile attempt to derail elections that ended his five-year hold on the governorship of a Muslim self-rule region.

Mahathir today said the government would allow Misuari's family to visit him.

"I read today in the newspapers that his family is here.

"I don't see why they cannot see him because he is not really a prisoner in that sense except that he is here because he has no travel papers and as you know illegal immigrants are detained by the government and the period how long (he will be held here) is not fixed," he was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

Safe passage

Malaysia has repeatedly said it wants to deport Misuari as soon as possible, partly because it does not want to be tainted with any connection to what could be seen as Islamic terrorism.

But Tarhata appealed to Mahathir and Philippines President Gloria Arroyo to grant her husband a safe passage to a third country, saying she feared for his life if he was deported back home.

"I plead to Mahathir and President Gloria Arroyo to grant Misuari asylum in a third country," she said.

Arroyo last week rejected an appeal from the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) for Misuari to be given sanctuary in a third country and instead vowed to put him on trial for rebellion.

Misuari is the former leader of the Muslim separatist group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which is recognised by the world Islamic body.

Tarhata said the couple's children, aged eight months, four years and seven years, had not seen their father since Nov 16 and they desperately wanted to visit him.

"The children are crying every day wanting to meet their father. Khalid is getting up middle of the night asking for his father. I just tell them their father has gone for a long meeting," she said.

Responsible leader

Tarhata described Misuari as a responsible leader and loving husband and father.

"He is kind and tolerant but he spoils the children."

Elly Pamatong, a US-based lawyer who claims he represents Misuari also urged Mahathir to ensure the rebel leader was not placed in any danger, which he could be if sent back to the Philippines.

"It is a duty of a Muslim to protect his Muslim brother," Pamatong said

"Do not make all his children orphans at this tender age."

Misuari has another six children from his first marriage.

Pamatong described Misuari as a crusader for independence, adding that he was trained by Malaysia in the 1970s.

"I have faith that the trainer (Malaysia) did not do so to make him a terrorist but to set his Muslim brothers free," he added.

Malaysia also provided sanctuary to the MNLF, which pushed for an independent Muslim homeland in the predominantly Catholic Philippines, in the 1970s and 80s.