Malaysian National Security Council takes control over Sabah standoff

Sultan Jamalul Kiram lll speaks during a news conference at his house in Maharlika Village, Taguig City. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A radio report early Wednesday said Malaysia’s National Security Council (NSC) had taken over the standoff situation between the group of Sulu sultanate-led Filipino “intruders” and Malaysian authorities in Sabah.

The extended 48-hour deadline for the group to leave the island, which the sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, claims as their land, lapsed after the last hour of Tuesday.

The report said Deputy Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar was coordinating with Sabah police and the military in trying to resolve the standoff.

Sultan Kiram III on Tuesday ignored President Aquino’s warning that his followers, holed up in Tanduao village in Lahad Datu town and numbering 236, would “face the full force of the law.”—Rick Alberto