The camp of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III on Monday accused Malacañang of secretly plotting to surrender the sultan and his followers to Malaysian authorities, citing the previous extradition of Moro leader Nur Misuari from Malaysia as a precedent.
Malacañang on Monday advised the camp of Jamalul Kiram III to stop speculating about their alleged extradition to Malaysia in connection with the Sabah crisis in February.
A defiant Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III maintained on Wednesday that he did not violate the country’s laws when his brother Agbimuddin Kiram and 235 of their followers occupied the coastal town of Lahad Datu in Sabah, Malaysia.
The National Bureau of Investigation has wrapped up its investigation into a failed bid by over 200 armed followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III to reclaim Sabah in February.
With the standoff in the disputed Sabah still unresolved, the country’s mission in Kuala Lumpur is hoping to put Mindanao in a positive light on the Malaysian stage.
Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Hamidi on Wednesday claimed that at least three Malaysian opposition leaders were behind the Sabah invasion by “Sulu terrorists” in February.
The Philippine military disputed a newspaper report that its naval and coast guard forces killed 35 gunmen to stop them from entering the Malaysian state of Sabah.
The Philippine Navy on Thursday denied a report in a Malaysian news website, saying they shot 35 armed men from Sulu who were trying to enter Sabah.
President Benigno Aquino III said here Wednesday night he was not rushing the study of the Philippines’ complex claim to Sabah, arguing that any solution should be acceptable to all parties.
The government is skirting the Sabah conflict – a pestering issue between the Philippines and Malaysia – in next week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ summit in Brunei, officials said on Wednesday.
Liberal Party (LP) mayoralty candidate Rommel Matba and his 31 companions were back in Tawi-Tawi on Thursday night, two days after they were detained by Malaysian authorities because their motorboat drifted to Lahad Datu in Sabah, officials said on Friday.
Rough seas swept away a motorboat carrying a Liberal Party mayoral candidate, his running mate and 30 supporters from Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday and took it to, of all places, Lahad Datu in Sabah, site of five weeks of fighting between Malaysian security forces and followers of the sultan of Sulu.
