Police search two men detained at Tanjung Labian, in Lahad Datu, March 6, 2013. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 ― Manila has revived talks with the Kiram family over the possibility of withdrawing the Sulu Sultanate’s fighters from Sabah to end the month-long armed conflict with Malaysia, Philippine Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas said today.
The Philippine official held a two-hour closed-door meeting with self-proclaimed Sulu “Sultan” Jamalul Kiram III’s younger brother, Bantilan Esmail Kiram II, today to discuss “disengagement” of the Sultanate’s army.
According to ABN-CBS News, Esmail said the Kiram family would weigh the option but wanted to know what would happen to the Sultanate’s followers should they lay down arms.
“We are all deeply concerned about what’s happening in Lahad Datu, Sabah,” Roxas said in the network’s online report.
“I updated them (the Kiram clan) on the Philippine government’s actions via the DFA’s (Department of Foreign Affairs) negotiations with the Malaysians to protect those who are innocent,” he added.
The Sulu incursion in Sabah has so far resulted in the deaths of 63 people, including 54 Filipino militants, eight Malaysian policemen and one teenage boy.
The Sultan’s brother, Agbimuddin Kiram, led a group of over 200 armed rebels to Lahad Datu on February 9 to lay the Sultanate’s claim over the resource-rich territory in north Borneo.
Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com
