By Clara Chooi
Assistant News Editor
The Malaysian Insider
Assistant News Editor
The Malaysian Insider
Jamalul claims Sabah belongs to the Sulu Sultanate. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — The Philippine government said today the fate of the self-proclaimed royal Sulu army in Sabah now lies in the hands of Malaysia’s security forces, appearing to suggest that a peaceful end to the prolonged standoff is no longer possible.
In an interview with the Philippines’ ABS-CBN News Channel this morning, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda pointed out that the over 200 gunmen claiming to be followers of the Sulu Sultanate have continued to hold their ground in Sabah, refusing to lay down arms even after violent skirmishes since Friday left 28 dead.
But according to the channel’s report on its website www.abs-cbnnews.com, Lacierda would not say if he agreed that the “window of opportunity” for a peaceful resolution to the standoff had closed because the deaths had involved Malaysian security personnel.
“Malaysia has stepped in. They have fatalities on their side. They want to resolve this on their terms. Prime Minister (Datuk Seri) Najib Razak said before the whole incident happened, baka pwede pa pero (it may have been possible but) now, serious offence has been committed,” he told Mornings@ANC, according to the report.
Adding to the tangled web, Lacierda confirmed the Philippine government’s suspicion that the Kiram family are working with outside “collaborators”, but was unsure who they are.
He pointed out that during early negotiations between government representatives and Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, whose brother, Agbimuddin Kiram, is leading the rebel group in Sabah, Jamalul kept “changing goal posts”.
“First of all, they wanted the government to press the Sabah claim. What did the President say? We will study the claim. I have formed a task group to study the claim,” he was quoted as saying.
At one point, Lacierda said, an agreement that would call an end to the standoff was nearly reached but a phone call changed everything.
The Philippine government is now attempting to find out if collaborators are indeed involved in guiding the Kiram family on its claims, the spokesman added.
Lacierda also repeated that the Philippine government had appealed several times to the Kiram family, urging the Sultanate to order its men home in order to discuss its proprietary claims over Sabah.
But Jamalul, who is one of nine claimants to the royal Sulu lineage, had refused the order, even directing Agbimuddin to stay put in Sabah.
In several Twitter postings this morning, the news channel quoted Lacierda as saying that the government has also consulted Muslim leaders and sent Muslim emissaries to speak to the Kiram family on the issue.
“Lacierda: We are seriously studying the Kirams’ claim,” it tweeted, using the handle @ANCALERTS.
But Lacierda also insisted that the Malacañang Palace, the official residence of Philippines President Benigno Aquino III, had not received Agbimuddin’s letter in 2010, where the Sulu crown prince had reportedly outlined his clan’s stand on the family’s ownership of the east Malaysian state.
“To our knowledge, the letter (allegedly from the Kirams) never reached the president,” Lacierda said, according to the Philippines TV network.
But Lacierda also agreed that from records of the Constitutional Commission on the issue, the claim to Sabah was never renounced.
“It’s there,” he reportedly said.
Despite this, the presidential spokesman said the Philippines government was now working to ensure the lives of the 800,000 Filipinos now residing in Sabah would not be affected by the ongoing armed conflict in the state.
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RELATED STORY:
Sultan wants UN, superpowers to intervene
Anisah Shukry
The Malaysian Insider|
Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III says his next step will be to request help from the UN, the UK and the US.
PETALING JAYA: The self-styled Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III wants the United Nations, the United States and the United Kingdom to intervene in his claim over Sabah, Philippine news website ABS-CBNnews.com reported today.
According to the news portal, Jamalul said he had lost faith in the Philippine government’s ability to help the Kiram clan in its claim to the north Borneo State.
Jamalul’s army comprising some 200 men has remained in Kampung Tanduo, 130 km from Lahad Datu, Sabah for three weeks now.
The armed intruders reportedly lost at least 12 men in its skirmishes against the Malaysian police and armed forces last Friday.
Jamalul’s attempts to seize Sabah by force has earned the disapproval of President Benigno Aquino III, who has repeatedly appealed to the sultanate’s army to return home and resolve the territorial dispute in the Philippines.
Similarly, the Malacanang Palace said today it was not disregarding the Kiram family’s claim over Sabah but pointed out there was no reason for the army to stay there.
But instead of heeding the calls for retreat, Jamalul told the news portal today that his next step would be to seek help from the international body and two superpowers.
He said the last time the issue was brought before the UN was in the 1960s, under the term of then President Diasdado Macapagal.
US bound by agreement
In another development, spokesman for the sultanate Abraham Idjirani said it was seeking the assistance of America to intercede by invoking a 1915 agreement signed with then US colonial government in the Philippines
He said that under the Kiram-Carpenter Agreement signed on March 22, 1915, the US had agreed to provide “full protection” to the Sulu Sultan.
He added that under that agreement which was signed by then US-appointed Governor of Mindanao and Sulu province, Frank W Carpenter, with the Sulu Sultan, the latter had relinquished his and his heirs’ right to temporal sovereignty, tax collection and arbitration laws in exchange for an allowance, a piece of land and recognition as religious leader.
He said under the agreement, the US had also agreed to give “full protection to the Sultan of Sulu should the question of Sabah arise in the future between the sultanate and any foreign authority.”
“We will remind them of their moral obligation. That obligation is not to use violent means but to help find a solution,” Idjirani was reported by the Philippines Inquirer.
Idjirani said Malacañang’s “small window of opportunity” to end the standoff was not acceptable because all the government wanted was Agbimuddin’s group pullout from Sabah, without assurance of negotiations involving the sultanate’s claim to Sabah.
Eight Malaysians killed
Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar confirmed that a total of six policemen were killed in an ambush by armed intruders in Kampung Sri Jaya, Simunul, Semporna, Sabah on Saturday.
He said six of the armed intruders were also killed.
Police are investigating whether the group, believed to be less than 10 in number, in Kampung Sri Jaya Simunul are linked to the royal army of the Sultanate.
On Friday, two VAT 69 police commandos, ASP Zulkifli Mamat, 29 and Sergeant Sabarudin Daud, were killed, while three others were injured in a gunfire with the royal army in Kampung Tandou.
12 of the armed Sultan Sulu followers were also killed.
Yesterday, a group of soldiers from the 21st Royal Malay Regiment at the 8th Brigade Camp, Pengkalan Chepa, left for Sabah to boost security forces there, Bernama reported.
Armed forces Chief General Zulkifeli Mohd Zin was reported to have said that two more army battalions would be deployed in several areas in the east coast of Sabah.
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