Kiram nephew arrested

Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Sultanate of Sulu on Monday confirmed Malaysian authorities had arrested a nephew of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III but denied the detained Filipino was involved in the incursion into Sabah last month.

Abraham Idjirani, the sultanate’s spokesperson, said Datu Ahmirbahar Hussein Kiram and his wife, Gina Tevez, were seized by Malaysian police on Saturday from their house in Semporna, a coastal town several kilometers away from Lahad Datu, where the sultan’s followers landed on Feb. 9.

Ahmirbahar is a son of Sultan Bantilan Esmail Kiram, the sultan’s younger brother who earlier met with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and discussed the possible “disengagement” of the sultanate’s followers from Sabah, Idjirani said. With a report from Tarra Quismundo