Malaysian National Security Council takes control over Sabah standoff

 News
Feb 262013
 

6:33 am | Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

Sultan Jamalul Kiram lll speaks during a news conference at his house in Maharlika Village, Taguig City. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A radio report early Wednesday said Malaysia’s National Security Council (NSC) had taken over the standoff situation between the group of Sulu sultanate-led Filipino “intruders” and Malaysian authorities in Sabah.

The extended 48-hour deadline for the group to leave the island, which the sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, claims as their land, lapsed after the last hour of Tuesday.

The report said Deputy Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar was coordinating with Sabah police and the military in trying to resolve the standoff.

Sultan Kiram III on Tuesday ignored President Aquino’s warning that his followers, holed up in Tanduao village in Lahad Datu town and numbering 236, would “face the full force of the law.”—Rick Alberto

Despite incident involving armed Pinoys, Malacañang won't reopen Sabah claim

 News
Feb 182013
 
Despite incident involving armed Pinoys, Malacañang won't reopen Sabah claim

Malaysian cops, troops surround Filipino armed group in Sabah . Sabah Police Commissioner Hamza Taib (center) leaves after a meeting at a police base near Lahad Datu on Borneo island on Sunday. About 100 armed men holed up in a village in Sabah, Malaysia refuse to leave, saying they have links with the Sultanate of Sulu in the Philippines which has a historic claim over the northern tip of Borneo island. Malaysia police and army troops have surrounded the village, with navy boats patrolling nearby islands. Reuters/Bazuki Muhammad Malacañang remained adamant that despite the incident involving some 400 people including 20 gunmen who have crossed over to the Malaysian state of Sabah, the Aquino administration will not revisit the country’s claim to the disputed land. “From what I understand, the claim is there and it hasn’t moved for quite some time. I also remember that the President did mention that it’s been dormant. Let’s leave it at that for the moment,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a briefing. In the 1960s, the Philippine government laid claim over Sabah based on historical and legal data, but later suspended its claim and instead forged close cooperation with its neighbor Malaysian. Valte added that more than any claim over Sabah, the administration is more concerned about the safety of those involved in the standoff. “The main concern really is the safety of the people who are there. So ‘yun po muna ‘yung pinag-uusapan at ‘yung sinesentruhan natin,” Valte said. “[We want] Read More …

We won’t leave Sabah, says Kiram

 News
Feb 172013
 
We won’t leave Sabah, says Kiram

Agence France-Presse 1:56 am | Monday, February 18th, 2013 Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram talks to reporters during a news conference in Alabang, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. His followers who crossed to the Malaysian state of Sabah this month will not leave and are reclaiming the area as their ancestral territory, the sultan said Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013, amid a tense standoff. AP PHOTO/AARON FAVILA MANILA, Philippines—Followers of a Philippine sultan who crossed to the Malaysian state of Sabah this month will not leave and are reclaiming the area as their ancestral territory, the sultan said Sunday amid a tense standoff. Sultan Jamalul Kiram said his followers—some 400 people including 20 gunmen—were resolute in staying despite being cornered by security forces, with the Kuala Lumpur government insisting the group return to the Philippines. “Why should we leave our own home? In fact they (the Malaysians) are paying rent (to us),” he told reporters in Manila. “Our followers will stay in (the Sabah town of) Lahad Datu. Nobody will be sent to the Philippines. Sabah is our home,” he said. The sultan did not directly threaten violence but said “there will be no turning back for us.” Malaysian officials have said that many in the group have weapons, but Kiram insisted his followers made the trip unarmed. “If they have arms, they were already in Sabah,” the sultan said. The southern Philippine-based Islamic sultanate once controlled parts of Borneo, including the site of the stand-off, and Read More …