Sulu forces hold Sabah cop, officers

From Malaya (Mar 4): Sulu forces hold Sabah cop, officers

THE camp of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III yesterday said his forces have captured four Malaysian officials following a clash in Semporna town, which resulted in the killing of two Filipino imams and their children.

Abraham Idjirani, spokesman of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, said his group got information that their followers in Sabah have captured two ranking Malaysian military officers, one police official, and another government official following a clash in the town of Semporna, about 190 miles by road from Lahad Datu.

“Without provocation ay pinagpapatay na lang silang lahat,” Idjirani said in a hastily called press briefing in Maharlika Village, Taguig.

The incident was not reported by Malaysian media.

Idjirani identified the killed imams, or Muslim religious leaders, as Imam Maas and Imam Jul who he said were killed along with their children during a round-up by Malaysian authorities.

He said the Filipinos involved in the clash were not members of the Sultan’s Royal Security Force but were sympathizers.

He said Kiram did not order his followers and sympathizers in Semporna to attack or capture the Malaysians.

He gave the assurance that the captives’ rights would be respected and that they would be used by the Sultanate of Sulu “as an opening witness to the numerous `atrocities’ of the Malaysian government against Filipinos in Sabah.”

Idjirani said they have received reports that reinforcements from the provinces of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga arrived in Sabah Saturday night following the Semporna clash and last Friday’s firefight between the group of Rajah Mudda (crown prince) Agbimuddin Kiram and Malaysian security forces that led to the death of 12 Filipinos and two Malaysian police commandos.

“This is an organized patriotic act in show of support to this struggle of the Sultanate of Sulu. It did not come or was ordered by Sultan Kiram,” he added.

Their information, he added, is that the groups have around a thousand members who are possibly armed with assault rifles and other weapons.

Kiram’s daughter, Dayang Dayang (princess) Sitti Jacel Kiram, appealed for sobriety among their followers and sympathizers.

“I was directed by my father to make an appeal to our supporters, sympathizers and relatives in Sulu for sobriety because we still believe that this problem can be resolved peacefully,” she said.

She urged the Philippine government to look into information that their relatives in Sabah are being harassed by Malaysian authorities since the standoff started.

She said her family fears that their relatives might bear the brunt of the anger of the Malaysian authorities. She said it was not the first time that Filipinos were harassed and even deported in a crackdown by Malaysia.

An emotional Sultan Kiram, after attending Sunday morning prayers in his house in Maharlika Village, criticized the Aquino administration for allegedly mishandling the Sabah crisis.

“Malamang buong Muslim, buong Tausug magpakamatay dahil dito. This is not a joke, malaking gulo ito. Pilipino kami tapos Malaysia pa ang kanilang tinutulungan,” Kiram said.

The sultanate maintained that 10 of its followers were killed in last Friday’s firefight with Malaysian security forces while four were wounded. Ten others were captured.
Kiram said he is still open to negotiation. Yesterday, former national security adviser Norberto Gonzales visited Kiram.

Kiram and Gonzales have ties with former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo. Kiram ran under Arroyo’s slate during the 2007 senatorial elections but he lost.

Jacel said government is treating them like terrorists even if what they are fighting for is not for the Kiram family but for the entire Filipino nation.

“Ang sakit po na ang gobyerno mo bilang Pilipino ay mas kinakampihan pa ang Malaysia…Mapayapa ang aming intensyon na tumira sa Sabah at ang pinaglalaban namin dito ay karapatan sa Sabah at hustisya,” she said.

Jacel said communication between Kiram and his brother who remains in Sabah despite the tightening cordon of Malaysian security forces have been cut off but they seem to be all right.

Kiram earlier said that his brother sent him a text message early Saturday saying he and his remaining followers were ready to die.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Ambassador Eduardo Malaya and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jose Brillantes, a former ambassador to Malaysia, met with Royal Malaysian Police Inspector General Tan Sri Ismail Omar in Lahad Datu.
The two diplomats told Ismail that an embassy team is in Lahad Datu in a humanitarian and consular mission for Filipinos affected there.

Malaya asked that the consular team be allowed to extend assistance to the wounded Filipinos and other affected nationals, and to “have access to them once practicable.”
Brilliantes was dispatched from Manila to Malaysia last February 25 to assist the Philippine Embassy in handling the situation.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the Sabah issue “is not just a purely legal matter” but also involves foreign policies.

“Masalimuot talaga ito. A decision to be made on this issue will have to entail several considerations,” she said in a text message.

De Lima has been tasked to study the validity of the territorial claim of the Philippines as well as the possible criminal liability of Agbimuddin Kiram who led a force of 180 men and women, of whom 30 were heavily armed, to Sabah.

She said the Department of Justice is already halfway in determining the legality of the sultanate’s claims, and the government is mulling bringing the Sabah issue before the International Court of Justice for resolution to arrest further eruption of violence in the area.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said government has contingencies in case the situation in Sabah escalates and becomes more violent.

She also dismissed Kiram’s request for intervention from the United States.

She also said it is up to actor Robin Padilla, a Muslim, if he would help negotiate for the return of Kiram’s men to the Philippines.

Padilla visited Kiram Saturday and handed a P500,000 check for the Sultan’s dialysis treatment.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/news/nation/25548-sulu-forces-hold-sabah-cop-officers