Sulu sultanate presses for Sabah bid

From the Manila Standard Today (Oct 16): Sulu sultanate presses for Sabah bid

As the Muslim community celebrates Eid’l Adha, the Sultanate of Sulu, the Islamic Tausug state that ruled over many islands in southern Philippines, vowed never to abandon its territorial claim over Sabah.

Abraham Idjirani, the sultanate’s spokesman and secretary-general, said they have  to fight for their rights over Sabah after the Aquino administration abandoned its claim on the territory, which Malaysia controls as its 13th state.

“The claim of the Sultanate of Sulu over Sabah through the Government of the Republic of the Philippines  is now abandoned by the Philippine government. In view of that, the Sultanate is compelled to pursue independently the claim, acting on its historic and legal rights over Sabah,” Idjirani said from the residence of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in Maharlika Village, Taguig City.

On February, Kiram sent his brother, Raja Muda (crown prince) Agbimuddin Kiram to Sabah, along with 200 fighters to revive the sultanate’s long-standing claim over the resource-rich Sabah.

The intrusion prompted the Malaysian military to launch offensive operations to flush out Kiram’s armed followers. A total of 68 members of the sultanate’s Royal Security Forces (RSF) and 10 Malaysian policemen and soldiers were killed in the series of clashes.

Seven months after the cessation of hostilities, the RSF in Sabah has grown to 1,600 men, backed up by volunteers from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), according to Idjirani.

“The continued presence of Raja Muda in Sabah is now the Sultanate’s assertion by itself of their sovereign and proprietary rights over the territory,” Idjirani pointed out.
The RSF, Idjirani said, remained in Lahad Datu, maintaining a defensive stand to avoid further clashes with the Malaysian security forces.

“They were continuously repositioning in controlled areas to avoid an encounter with the Malaysian forces, which is in compliance with the previous call of the United Nations for sobriety,” the sultanate official added.

The sultanate’s presence in Sabah, Idjirani stressed, also hopes to prove to the international community that Malaysia does not respect international agreements as in the case of the Manila Accord of 1963.

The 1963 agreement was signed by the Philippines, Indonesia, then Federation of Malaya and the Sulu Sultanate in July 31, 1963 wherein the three signatory-states agreed to recognize the Sulu Sultanate’s claim over Sabah and peacefully solve the dispute in the UN.

“Malaysia is a mere administrator of Sabah as the issue is still pending resolution in the UN since 1962,” Idjirani said.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/10/16/sulu-sultanate-presses-for-sabah-bid/