Malaysia in standoff with Filipino Muslim rebels

[balipseyev]

---

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysia’s government said Thursday that its security forces have surrounded dozens of suspected Filipino Muslim rebels in a remote area with a history of incursions by armed Islamic groups in the Philippines.
About 80-100 gunmen had been cornered in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters.
He said security forces were negotiating with the men near the small coastal town of Lahad Datu.
“We know the situation is still under control. I confirm that no Malaysian citizens, to my knowledge, are being held hostage or for ransom,” Hishammuddin said.
“Security forces are still in control and negotiating with them, some of whom are armed.”
He declined to confirm that the gunmen were from the adjacent southern Philippines.
But asked whether Philippine authorities were involved in negotiations, Hishammuddin said: “Of course they will have to be involved in the operations.”
National police chief Ismail Omar had said in a statement late Wednesday that “the intrusion is a result of the problems in the southern Philippines”.
That was an apparent reference to Muslim militants and other lawlessness Mindanao, which lies just across the Sulu Sea from Sabah.
Malaysia is predominantly Muslim.
Earlier Thursday Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted by The Star newspaper as saying police were negotiating with the gunmen “to get the group to leave peacefully to prevent bloodshed”.
“We have surrounded the area and our police and armed forces have the ability to handle the matter,” he was quoted as saying.
The Star’s report added that a tight security ring including army and naval forces had been thrown around the “heavily armed” group.
Wednesday’s statement by Ismail had said the men had surrendered when ordered and the situation was defused. The government has not yet explained the about-face.
A Philippine military official told Agence France-Presse that Manila did not rule out the possibility that the men could be members of the extremist group Abu Sayyaf.
The small gang of self-styled Islamic militants has carried out previous raids into Malaysian waters.
In 2000 Abu Sayyaf guerrillas seized 21 mostly Western holidaymakers as hostages at the Malaysian scuba diving resort of Sipadan near Lahad Datu, taking them off to Philippine islands. They were later ransomed.
“We have received similar reports but we cannot confirm, nor rule out, whether they are members of the ASG (Abu Sayyaf group),” said Philippine southern command military chief Lieutenant General Rey Ardo.
“Other lawless elements as well as (Filipino) pirates are also known to stray into Malaysian waters.”
Security on Sabah’s coast has been a problem for Malaysia, with tens of thousands of Filipinos believed to have migrated illegally to the state over the past few decades and people moving freely across the maritime border.
Two Malaysians were kidnapped from a plantation in the area in November and were believed to have been taken to the southern Philippine

[balipseyev]

BREAKING NEWS: The Number of armed Filipinos in Sabah has reached 300, at least six camps have been set up and still waiting for reinforcements from Tawi-Tawi.

Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram, who had been negotiating with the Malaysian since Tuesday is dressed up in [white robes] the symbol of Jihad.

A Malaysian villager, who returned to check on his house, said the Filipinos did not enter vacant houses.

According to source, on Nov. 11, 2012 Sultan Jamalul Kiram III issued a royal decree that authorized Rajah Mudah’s journey who was tasked to lead a 1,000-strong force to Sabah.

PHOTO: Malaysian Military personnel have set up a base camp and check point near Tanduo Village where Filipinos are in a tense standoff. Borneo Insider

[balipseyev]

[img][/img]

BREAKING NEWS: Sulu 'royal army' raised the Philippines flag and demands to stay in Sabah.

Malaysian troops are negotiating with about 100 armed men from the Philippines in a remote part of Sabah, officials say.

According to source the leader of the group is Datu Agbimuddin, younger brother of Royal Datu Jamalul III and Royal Datu Esmail II. The group entered Sabah with Royal Armed Forces elements. Datu Agbimuddin, who is also known as 'Puing' by his relatives and close friends, was accompanied by 200 members of his security group but 50 of them had been captured by a Malaysian Navy boat. The rest of the group is now surrounded by Malaysian commando. The confirmation report from the Sultanate of Sulu expressed deep concern for Datu Agbimuddin's followers.

[crossramz]

are these guys the remnants of abu sayaff escaping from phils or going to phils? which is which?

[Eddie.Garcia]

Dli ko uyon ani, this is not the right time para makig conflict ta sa atong silingan.. daghan pa kaayu tag territorial problems para pun an ani... Good thing dli i tolerate sa Philippine government ilang gibuhat..

[lestat1116]

hmm are we taking back sabah?

[i_the_mighty]

Ug rakrakan nalang diay na sila daun sa mga Malaysian troops, di na na kinahanglan ipananghid sa Pinas kay wa man na sila sugoa mamalhin og lugar. Og mamalik sa Sulu or Tawi-tawi nang mga tawhana, didto na sad mag-atang ang sundalo nato para ma-corner nang mga rebelde. Yep, shallow thinking from me, pero sige ra na silag samok2 kanang mga tawhana.

[lhorenzoo]

Border patrols intensified in wake of intrusion in Sabah

THE Philippine military will conduct more patrols at its borders with Malaysia to avoid aggravating the situation in northeastern Borneo where a group of ethnic Tausug Filipinos demanded that they be allowed to stay in what they claim to be their land, according to Armed Forces chief-of-staff Gen. Emmanuel T. Bautista

Speaking at the alumni homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City, Bautista said he is coordinating with Gen. Zulkifeli Zin, chief of the Malaysian defense forces, over the situation involving 200 Filipino Tausugs who were holed up in the town of Lahad Datu and claimed ownership of the land.

“The chief of the Malaysian defense forces… has requested us to patrol our borders as they will patrol their side to prevent illegal entrants so that the situation in (Borneo) will not get complicated,” Bautista said.

Bautista made the remark as Malacañang Palace assured the Tausug community that the rights of the Filipinos will be respected by the Malaysian authorities and that the Philippine government’s primary concern was the safety of the 200 Filipinos.

“We are working to ensure that the situation remains peaceful and that no one gets hurt,” said Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte over government-owned radio station dzRB. “The Secretary of Foreign Affairs [Alberto del Rosario] said we have been assured the right of our people will be respected.”

Valte said Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman had assured Del Rosario that the Filipinos will be safe while their concerns are addressed by Kuala Lumpur. Aman is a brother Musa Aman, chief minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah and distant relative of fugitive pyramid scam suspect Manuel Amalilio, owner of Aman Futures Group International Inc.

“Malaysian Foreign Minister Aman said the Malaysian government is addressing the presence of the people… through peaceful negotiation and they are being encouraged to leave peacefully,” Valte said.

“We don’t want to engage in speculation about what these people are, the primary concern is their safety and how to resolve the incident peacefully,” she added, declining to comment on the Tausugs’ supposed demand that they be recognized as subjects of the Sultanate of Sulu, owner of northeastern Borneo that is now known as Sabah.

“At this point the Department of Foreign Affairs is trying to ascertain the entirety of facts attendant to that incident,” she said.

The group, purportedly consisting of 800 people, landed in the area of Lahad Datu to visit relatives.

There are an estimated 150,000 Tausugs in Malaysia, most of them Malaysian citizens living in Sabah, while another 12,000 live in the Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia. There are about 900,000 Tausugs in Sulu province, the traditional territory of Sulu sultanate.

The sultanate leased, in perpetuity, much of the eastern part of North Borneo to the British North Borneo Company in 1878 for the amount of 5,300 Mexican dollars every year, an amount continuously paid until 1963.

But the British turned over the territory, allegedly without the consent of the Sultan of Sulu, to the Federation of Malaysia upon its creation in 1963.

A few years before the creation of Malaysia, the British and Malay governments purportedly held a survey in Borneo island about the residents’ sentiments on joining the Malaysian federation and the supposed survey showed that most residents wanted to join the federation.

The survey was rejected both by the Philippines and Indonesia, which has also claimed ownership of northwestern Borneo, which is now the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Border patrols intensified in wake of intrusion in Sabah - Manila Standard Today

mao na ni ron . why now ? is this a prelude to something bigger?

[CebuanoGid]

Ug rakrakan nalang diay na sila daun sa mga Malaysian troops, di na na kinahanglan ipananghid sa Pinas kay wa man na sila sugoa mamalhin og lugar. Og mamalik sa Sulu or Tawi-tawi nang mga tawhana, didto na sad mag-atang ang sundalo nato para ma-corner nang mga rebelde. Yep, shallow thinking from me, pero sige ra na silag samok2 kanang mga tawhana.

Pag rakrakan na sa mga malaysian nang mga tausug diha unya pasagdan lang sa pinas, sisihon napud sa mga tausug ang Philippine Government nganung wala sila tabangi, mu backfire napud na sa Philippines unya naa napud bag.ong rebellion didto sa Sulu from the Tausugs, bag.ong problema napud na.

[hulagway]

i hope china is not involved.