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Monday, March 4, 2013

Sultan’s followers kill, capture Malaysian cops


MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos enraged by a Malaysian raid on a religious leader’s house in Sabah retaliated Saturday night, attacking an army convoy and overrunning a district police headquarters, the sultanate of Sulu announced yesterday.

Five Malaysian security officers were killed and four ranking Sabah officials were held captive by the Filipinos in Semporna, where the violence has spread from the coastal town of Lahad Datu, according to the Sulu sultanate. Kuala Lumpur confirmed only two police deaths.

Sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani described the escalation of violence as an “unorganized, spontaneous uprising” by Filipinos residing in Sabah.

Idjirani said that as of noon yesterday, armed followers of the sultanate were in control of Semporna.

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) said reinforcements from Mindanao also breached the Malaysian security cordon in Sandakan, another part of Sabah, and ambushed two truckloads of men belonging to the Malaysian Territorial Army Regiment.

“The reinforcements were able to wipe them out,” said Habib Mujahab Hashim, chairman of the MNLF’S Islamic Command Council.

Hashim, who said he was authorized by the Sulu sultanate to speak on the situation in Sabah, said the reinforcements used improvised dynamite or timbak isda for the ambush. The dynamite is normally used for blast fishing.

Both the MNLF and the Sulu sultanate said tension was building up even in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah’s capital.

Idjirani said the “uprising” was triggered by the raid at 7:30 p.m. Saturday by Malaysian paramilitary forces on the home of Imam Maas, who was suspected to be harboring Alepiuya Kiram, a brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.

When the militia, belonging to the Malaysian Police General Operations Force, failed to find Alepiuya, they allegedly fired on the house, killing the imam and his four sons and wounding another village elder called Imam Jul in another house.

Idjirani said enraged residents then took to the streets, attacking the police and military headquarters in Semporna. The villagers captured a ranking police official, two military commanders and a civilian official of Sabah, Idjirani told a press conference at the sultan’s home in Taguig City yesterday.

Kiram reportedly told his brother, who is leading the uprising in Sabah, to “take care of the captives,” who will be presented before an international body “to answer for the killing of innocent people.”

Up to 12 followers of the sultanate who holed up in Lahad Datu were killed by Malaysian security forces last week. The sultan’s army also killed two Malaysian policemen.

During yesterday’s press conference, the sultanate showed photos of the Malaysian officers slain in Semporna.

The sultanate said more reinforcements from Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Sulu were arriving in Semporna, a district near Lahad Datu where from 100 to 300 followers of Kiram arrived on Feb. 9 to reiterate the sultanate’s claim over Sabah.

On Saturday, Malaysian forces started rounding up Filipinos in Sabah, heightening the tension. Authorities reportedly shut down the cell sites in Lahad Datu, cutting off the sultanate’s contact with Kiram’s brother Agbimuddin, described as the crown prince or raja muda.

“The fighting for now, I will consider it an uprising,” Hashim said, attributing it to the “harsh treatment” of Filipinos by Malaysian authorities.

An estimated 800,000 Filipinos live in Sabah, which the sultanate of Brunei gave as a gift to the Sulu sultanate in the 17th century. In the 19th century, the Sulu sultan leased the land to the British North Borneo Company, although the British said the land was ceded.

Malaysia continues to pay the Sulu sultanate 5,300 ringgits – about P70,000 – annually in what Kuala Lumpur describes as “cession fee” but is considered rental by the sultanate.

MNLF members are with the sultan’s group in Lahad Datu, but Hashim said his group was not participating in the attacks.

25 comments:

  1. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    Tiga bekas pegawai tentera menggesa rakyat menyokong usaha pihak berkuasa menangani pencerobohan pengganas Sulu di Lahad Datu dan Semporna, Sabah, serta menjaga kerahsiaan pergerakan pasukan keselamatan negara.

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  2. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    Mejar (B) Wan Hashim Wan Ahmad yang pernah berkhidmat di Bosnia Herzegovina berkata orang ramai tidak sepatutnya mempertikai apa jua langkah yang diambil pasukan keselamatan untuk menyelesaikan krisis itu.

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  3. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    "Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama dan jangan mengeluarkan kenyataan negatif yang akan memecah belahkan masyarakat. Jika benar insiden ini ada kaitan dengan orang luar, ternyata musuh negara sudah berjaya memesongkan moral kita," katanya kepada Bernama hari ini.

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  4. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    Sokongan juga bermaksud menjaga kerahsiaan negara dan tidak terlalu ghairah membuat mengemaskini pergerakan tentera, polis serta gambar-gambar operasi pasukan keselamatan di Sabah, katanya.

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  5. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    Beliau juga meminta rakyat yang mempunyai rakan di kalangan anggota keselamatan supaya tidak lagi memaparkan kandungan mesej pesanan ringkas di dalam laman sosial seperti Facebook atau Twitter.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    "Maklumat seperti ini semua boleh disalah guna, ada individu tertentu yang membuat "print screen" paparan sms dengan menyiarkan nombor telefon pegawai polis yang sedang terlibat dalam operasi memburu pengganas di sana, bayangkan jika maklumat ini disalah gunakan," katanya.

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  7. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    Blogger Komando Kedai Kopi yang lebih dikenali sebagai Mejar (B) Naza Talib turut menyeru orang ramai agar terus memberikan sokongan kepada polis dan tentera tanpa perlu mempertikai pasukan mana yang lebih berhak menangani isu itu.

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  8. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    Tidak perlu timbul perbalahan pasukan mana yang terbaik untuk menangani krisis ini kerana masing-masing mempunyai bidang perundangan sendiri, katanya.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    "Jika keadaan ini melarat, ada kemungkinan pihak tentera akan campur tangan terus. Sokongan harus juga diberikan kepada kerajaan kerana soal keganasan yang ditimbulkan orang-orang Sulu ini sangat kompleks kerana melibatkan mereka yang telah tinggal lama di Sabah," katanya kepada Bernama.

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  10. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    Beliau turut memuji keberanian pasukan polis berhadapan dengan pengganas Sulu yang bersenjata automatik dan mempunyai pengalaman perang gerila selama bertahun-tahun dalam hutan di Filipina.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    Seorang pesara bekas tentera berpangkat Mejar yang tidak mahu namanya dikenali yakin negara mempunyai kelebihan dari segi taktikal dan strategi.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    "Kita tahu kedudukan mereka, lokasi mereka, ini adalah satu kelebihan sebagai contoh, mungkin kita boleh memotong bekalan utiliti seperti elektrik, air dan sebagainya, supaya mereka tidak dapat bertahan lama," katanya.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Orang ramai termasuk blogger-blogger politik diminta beri kerjasama

    Beliau dalam pada itu turut mengutuk kenyataan naib presiden Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Tian Chua yang menuduh insiden pencerobohan itu sebagai sandiwara UMNO.

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  14. Malaysia has sent more army troops to North Borneo where security forces are fighting about 200 followers of Sultanate of Sulu who are claiming ownership of the oil-rich island just several nautical miles off the Philippines.

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  15. The soldiers, who belong to the 21st Royal Malay Regiment under the 8th Brigade Camp, came from Kuala Lumpur, and that two more battalions are expected to follow to help local forces in North Borneo.

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  16. The operations are centered in the towns of Lahad Datu, Kunak and Semporna where some 200 sultanate members headed by Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram have ignored repeated demands by Malaysia to surrender peacefully and return to the southern Philippines.

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  17. Fighting between the two sides have killed several dozen people already since the standoff begun last month. Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram warned that Muslims in the Philippines would surely rise up if all of his followers end up dead in assaults by Malaysian forces.

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  18. The Sultanate of Sulu is claiming historical ownership to North Borneo or Sabah as what Malaysia now calls them. Brunei gave the island to the Sulu Sultanate for helping quell a rebellion many centuries ago, but Malaysia annexed North Borneo, although it is still paying so-called "cession money" to Sultan Fuad Kiram.

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  19. Sultan Jamalul’s daughter Celia Kiram has appealed to both Malaysia and the Philippines to stop the assault on their group, but both governments rejected the plea and told them to surrender without conditions. S

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  20. Ismail said in Lahad Datu daily life as usual and there is no curfew was declared, while the police operation is in the Village Tanduo.

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  21. "I have no choice now but to take the action that is to catch them. Once again, I ask them to put the gun down and surrendered. If not I have no choice but to take drastic action and appropriate action to end the situation, "he said.

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  22. He also stressed that the invaders who had surrendered and they will be taken action under the laws of Malaysia because the group is a very serious offense in the country.

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  23. "After what happened yesterday, the situation is under control. The group has been under siege in the village Tanduo by security forces in a state of "we control the situation".

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  24. "The police and security forces to control the situation, and the group is trapped in the village Tanduo. I want to give a warning to those in the current situation now, let them surrender. Time is much given...he said.

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  25. pra penceroboh ni mmg kejam, pasukan keselamatan Malaysia akan hapuskan kamu

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