On Sabah stand-off, Malaysia Home Minister Hishammuddin issues veiled threat: "I hope they don't push us" while Sabah Chief Minister Musa says Sulu group "breached international laws and Malaysia's sovereignty"

TANJUNG BATU, Felda Sahabat 17 (Tuesday): Hishammuddin, accompanied by top security officials, take a closer look through the binoculars, at the area where the intruders are said to be holding out, This place is about 2km away from Kg Tanduo. (Credit: The Borneo Insider)

According to The Borneo Insider, Malaysia wants to end stand-off with Sultanate of Sulu group in Sabah which is now on its second week without bloodshed. 

Malaysia Home Minister, in a veiled threat, said, “I hope they don't push us. We have to do the right thing at the right time. And if we have to make a decision, we are on top of it.” What that means is open to conjenctures. 

Hisham (short for Hishammuddin) flew to Sabah's Felda Sahabat area, two kilometers from Tanduo where the Sultanate of Sulu warriors were holed up, to take a closer look at what is happening in the area.

"Malaysian Armed Forces on the ready,"
according to The Borneo Insider

Meanwhile, Musa, Sabah's First (or Chief) Minister, who also is the Chairman of Sabah's State Security Committee, in a statement issued through his press office on Tuesday 19 February, urged the Sultanate of Sulu group to "return to their homeland to avoid any untoward incident including bloodshed in the event that the Malaysian security forces have to take action and added that he is "confident that the relevant authorities are on top of the situation.”  

Musa also said that the Sultanate of Sulu group must  “realise that they have clearly breached international laws and Malaysia’s sovereignty.  What is at stake here is our sovereignty and rights, which will not be compromised.” 

In the same statement, he praised the degree of restraint by the authorities as the "the result of coordinated efforts among the police, the military and the marine coast guard, and they have shown a high degree of professionalism and discipline."

OUR VIEW: What we find very difficult to realise is what "international laws and Malaysia's sovereignty" has the Sultanate of Sulu group breached when Sabah is historically, legally and morally belongs to the Sultanate of Sulu and the current heirs to Sabah land. Mr Musa, one of the most corrupt officials that Sabah has ever produced, is clearly not well informed. It is he who must realise that Malaysia has breached international laws and violated Sultanate of Sulu sovereignty rights over Sabah.

Back in Manila, The Philippine government seems to be paralysed while the Sultanate of Sulu group in Sabah finds itself in a precarious condition and under threat no less than by Hishammuddin, Malaysia's Home Minister. Based on reports, the group has been feeding on the produce of the farm that was vacated by families in the area in the run up to the stand-off. Time for PH Government to stop playing the ostrich game and to lend this group's Sabah claim a helping hand. 

By AdB
For the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
and for the Defenders of Philippine Sabah and Spratly Claims
19 February 2013


REPORTS: 

Malaysia wants to end stand-off with Sulu gunmen without bloodshed

LAHAD DATU: Malaysian authorities are still keeping their options open in resolving a stand-off with the armed Sulu group holed up at the isolated Kampung Tanduo coastal village at Felda Sahabat 17 near here, a national daily reported. 

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Malaysia was doing everything possible to ensure that stand-off, now entering its second week, was settled without bloodshed. 

He said Malaysia would, however, not compromise the nation’s sovereignty and security.“I hope they don’t push us,” he said Tuesday after flying into the Felda Sahabat area where he was updated by top police officials. 

“We have to do the right thing at the right time. And if we have to make a decision, we are on top of it,” Hishammuddin added. 

For full news report: Malaysia wants to end stand-off zith Sulu gunmen without bloodshed

Musa appeals to Sulu intruders

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman said the security forces are in full control of the situation in Lahad Datu. 

“As Chairman of the State Security Committee, I am confident that the relevant authorities are on top of the situation,” he said in a statement issued Tuesday from his Press Division. 

He said this was the result of coordinated efforts among the police, the military and the marine coast guard, and they have shown a high degree of professionalism and discipline. 

“In the last few days, we have seen how the authorities, especially the police, exercising great restraint in dealing with the foreign intruders in Kampung Tanduo,” he said. 

He said the restraint was not a sign of weakness but rather a deeper understanding of the complexity of the issue.Musa however, urged the foreign intruders to return to their homeland to avoid any untoward incident including bloodshed in the event that the Malaysian security forces have to take action. 

“They must realise that they have clearly breached international laws and Malaysia’s sovereignty.  What is at stake here is our sovereignty and rights, which will not be compromised,” he said. 

“Once again, I appeal to the intruders to be rational and give up the futile attempt and return to their homeland peacefully,” he said. 

For full story: Musa appeals to Sulu intruders