DND chief: Sabah row getting harder to resolve

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 26): DND chief: Sabah row getting harder to resolve

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin Tuesday said the fighting in Sabah will prove difficult to resolve as it now has turned into a "low intensity" one between followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and Malaysian security forces.

“(Looking for one man) is like looking for fish in water,” he added.

Malaysian authorities are using 12 battalions of soldiers -- around 7,200 troops in all -- to locate and arrest Datu Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram.

“(But the military condition is) low intensity conflict. It’s like when you have only water as support, it would be very, very difficult to locate the fish,” Gazmin said.

Since Feb. 9, Kiram and his followers have been ensconced in Sabah, a 150-minute boat ride from Sulu.

Their demand for recognition has triggered severe fighting early March which led to the death of 63 of his followers and displaced 3,879.

Gazmin said the DND has not received any report that the Raja Muda has left Sabah and is now in the Philippines.

Gazmin added: “Remember the Raja Muda has been there for quite some time and he’s been moving in and out of Malaysia so he knows the terrain, he has a lot of relatives.

"Once upon a time, he was an officer of a barangay so he knows the area.”

The DND chief added Philippine security authorities don't see Raja Muda bringing the violence to Mindanao.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=510812