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Reuters
Posted at 02/20/2013 3:16 PM | Updated as of 02/20/2013 8:40 PM
MANILA, Philippines - The sultan of Sulu region on Wednesday rejected the peace deal between the Philippines and Muslim rebels, and said he will not ask his men to pull out from Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah.
About 100 armed men have occupied a village in Sabah in the stand-off with police.
Security analysts had warned that the historic peace deal signed by the Philippine government and Muslim rebels last October to end 40 years of conflict in the Philippine south risked stirring instability by alienating powerful clan leaders.
Seventy-four-year-old Jamalul Kiram III, a former Sultan of the Sulu region of the southern Philippines and brother of the man Philippine provincial authorities regard as sultan, said the peace deal had handed control of much of Sulu to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, ignoring the sultanate.
"I cannot understand what our government is doing. I cannot understand why, instead of siding with us because we are Filipinos, they are siding with the Malaysians," he said.
Jamalul said the group of sultan loyalists had gone to Malaysia as a protest action in response to what they saw as the unfair peace deal, and they would not back down, despite growing shortages in food and water from the week-long standoff.
"My people are already there. We will not budge, we will not leave. If we die, then we die," he said.
The group of 100 armed men has refused to move from the village they have occupied for nearly a week, despite pleas from both the Malaysian and Philippine governments to return to the Sulu archipelago on the Philippine side of the sea border.
Malaysian police armed with machine guns have surrounded the village in a palm-oil plantation area.
Malaysian officials said over the weekend that the group's demands would not be met and that the men would be deported soon, without specifying how.
"I heard they kept warning, and warning and warning us. I told my brother that instead of issuing warnings, they should just come here and kill us, but my order for them is not to point a gun anywhere and point it instead on the ground. It means we do not want any trouble. The main purpose when they arrived was not to cause trouble," Jamalul said.
Jamalul said his followers were demanding recognition from Malaysia as the rightful owners of Sabah and renegotiation of the original terms of the lease with a British trading company.
He said the Sulu royal family had asked to take part in the peace negotiations because the old sultanate's territories would be part of a new autonomous Muslim area, but they were rebuffed by the Philippine government.
He said their group is open to negotiations with Malaysia to settle the stand-off quickly.
"The only message I have is that we are still hoping, I am hoping for them to come down if they wanted to, but invite us to come other country if they do not want to come to the Philippines, a neutral country, then we will be there, we will talk," he said.
In an arrangement that stretches back to British colonial times, Malaysia pays a token amount to the Sulu sultanate each year for the "rental" of Sabah.
Posted at 02/20/2013 3:16 PM | Updated as of 02/20/2013 8:40 PM
MANILA, Philippines - The sultan of Sulu region on Wednesday rejected the peace deal between the Philippines and Muslim rebels, and said he will not ask his men to pull out from Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah.
About 100 armed men have occupied a village in Sabah in the stand-off with police.
Security analysts had warned that the historic peace deal signed by the Philippine government and Muslim rebels last October to end 40 years of conflict in the Philippine south risked stirring instability by alienating powerful clan leaders.
Seventy-four-year-old Jamalul Kiram III, a former Sultan of the Sulu region of the southern Philippines and brother of the man Philippine provincial authorities regard as sultan, said the peace deal had handed control of much of Sulu to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, ignoring the sultanate.
"I cannot understand what our government is doing. I cannot understand why, instead of siding with us because we are Filipinos, they are siding with the Malaysians," he said.
Jamalul said the group of sultan loyalists had gone to Malaysia as a protest action in response to what they saw as the unfair peace deal, and they would not back down, despite growing shortages in food and water from the week-long standoff.
"My people are already there. We will not budge, we will not leave. If we die, then we die," he said.
The group of 100 armed men has refused to move from the village they have occupied for nearly a week, despite pleas from both the Malaysian and Philippine governments to return to the Sulu archipelago on the Philippine side of the sea border.
Malaysian police armed with machine guns have surrounded the village in a palm-oil plantation area.
Malaysian officials said over the weekend that the group's demands would not be met and that the men would be deported soon, without specifying how.
"I heard they kept warning, and warning and warning us. I told my brother that instead of issuing warnings, they should just come here and kill us, but my order for them is not to point a gun anywhere and point it instead on the ground. It means we do not want any trouble. The main purpose when they arrived was not to cause trouble," Jamalul said.
Jamalul said his followers were demanding recognition from Malaysia as the rightful owners of Sabah and renegotiation of the original terms of the lease with a British trading company.
He said the Sulu royal family had asked to take part in the peace negotiations because the old sultanate's territories would be part of a new autonomous Muslim area, but they were rebuffed by the Philippine government.
He said their group is open to negotiations with Malaysia to settle the stand-off quickly.
"The only message I have is that we are still hoping, I am hoping for them to come down if they wanted to, but invite us to come other country if they do not want to come to the Philippines, a neutral country, then we will be there, we will talk," he said.
In an arrangement that stretches back to British colonial times, Malaysia pays a token amount to the Sulu sultanate each year for the "rental" of Sabah.
UMNO BN EXPELS 1 UNARMED AUSSIE SENATOR AS "SECURITY THREAT", STOPPED 1 BOAT WITH 3 JOURNALISTS - HELPLESS TO STOP 300 ARMED MEN INVADING SABAH!
ReplyDeleteIF SABAH IS “LEASED” FROM SULU, SABAH IS NOT PART OF MALAYSIA!
“He said the Sulu royal family had asked to take part in the peace negotiations because the old sultanate's territories would be part of a new autonomous Muslim area, but they were rebuffed by the Philippines government.” （Jamalul)
To shore up their flimsy claim, 100 or 300 (?) Sulu “army men” mounted an invasion of Sabah last week. This was because of Kuala Lumpur's slack border security despite spending billions on equipping its navy.
This begs the question.
If the Malaysian navy was alert enough to spot one boat with 3 Al Jazeera journalists going to Tandou it should have let several boatloads of armed men heading in the same direction to slip in under their radar!
Is not this extremely embarrassing for UMNO BN?
Further, Kuala Lumpur unashamedly expelled one Australian senator from Malaya but is pussy footing over the expulsion of 300 armed men who pose a significant threat to Sabah's peace and security. Already these armed men have been reported as stealing food from the Tandou villagers.
We should remember that for 50 years of Malaysia, UMNO BN has never been slow to suppress any local opposition with force if necessary and never try to avoid “bloodshed”.
So what is Kuala Lumpur up to ? Why so weak-kneed about the 300 armed men who are illegally in Sabah?
For 50 years UMNO BN has shut both eyes to the Southern Philippines insurgent presence in Sabah despite its pre-Malaysia promises that under Malaya's big brother protection, Sabah (and Sarawak) would be safe from foreign invasion.
In breach of all the agreements for formation of Malaysia, especially Sabah Sarawak control of immigration in the 18/20 Points Agreements, UMNO has engineered the mass invasion of “illegals” into Sabah and Sarawak.
Illegals now outnumber and outvote real Sabahans and will outnumber real Sarawakians in a matter of time.
UMNO BN's TOTAL failure to defend Sabah sovereignty and borders excludes it from using the armed presence as a scare tactic which it used in the 1960s about foreign invasion.
It is easy for UMNO BN to expel an Australian Senator as a "security threat" but is being seen as helpless and unable to expel 300 armed men.
If the “negotiations” with the armed men fail what will happen? The latter have declared they are not leaving Sabah.
Kuala Lumpur has to solve this stand-off quickly or it will lead to some nasty developments such as the armed men starting a guerrilla war in Sabah's once lush tropical forests .
But one thing for sure, UMNO BN has lost its authority and public confidence by its utter failure to defend our borders.
For this reason it cannot continue to rule!
The best solution is for Sabah people to claim back the independence on 31 August 1963 by exiting Malaysia like Singapore and resisting all foreign claims.
The power is in your hands - don't let others continue to play with your destiny!