Sulu Sultan fears new KL attacks

From the Manila Standard Today (Apr 24): Sulu Sultan fears new KL attacks

The Sulu sultanate on Tuesday expressed fears the Malaysian government will renew its attacks on the sultan’s royal security force now in Sabah once the Malaysian election is over.

Abraham Idjirani, spokesman of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, said that although there is a lull in the fighting between the RSF and Malaysian troopers, they expect clashes to erupt soon, especially with the RSF beefing up its force with 1,000 fighters from Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.

“I expect clashes to happen soon. At the moment, the Malaysians are very busy with their upcoming election and do not want to disturb Sabah where there are more than 600,000 Bangsa Suluk residents and voters,” he said, referring to long-time Filipino Muslim residents of Sabah.

Although the Suluks are registered voters in Malaysia, they still maintain strong ties with Sulu, according to Idjirani.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is running for reelection in the May 5 Malaysian general election is afraid of offending them, Idjirani said. “It might cost him votes,” Idjirani said.

The sultanate earlier announced that at least 1,000 fighters from Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi have landed in Sabah to augment the royal forces and conduct guerilla warfare against the Malaysian forces.

Idjirani said the armed volunteers, mostly members of the Moro National Liberation Front, are fully-armed and some of them carry anti-tank weapons.

At present, Idjirani said the 400-strong RSF led by the sultan’s brother, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, remain mobile in Lahad Datu evading Malaysian security units.
“They have retreated a bit and have taken positions away from Kampung Tanduo and Tanjung Batu,” he said.

Idjirani said the Malaysian military have strengthened their positions at Tawau, which is Sabah’s third largest town after Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan to capture arriving reinforcements.

Hajib Mujaha Hashim, chairman of the MNLF’s Islamic Command Council earlier said the volunteer MNLF fighters are seasoned guerilla fighters.

“They (reinforcement) are experienced in guerilla warfare. They are there not officially as MNLF but we could not prevent MNLF forces from going there and reinforcing the royal army of the Sultanate of Sulu in the area,” Hashim said.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/04/24/sulu-sultan-fears-new-kl-attacks/