KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — Lawyers for the Sulu Sultanate are drawing up details of a US$25 billion (RM78 billion) suit against Malaysia for allegedly usurping authority and illegally developing Sabah’s natural resources, The Manila Times reported today.
The English daily said the sultanate plans to bring the matter before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as its response to Malaysia’s decision to file terrorism charges against eight of its followers in Sabah on Wednesday.
Self-styled ‘Sultan’ Jamalul Kiram claims Sabah belongs to his sultanate. — Reuters pic
The US$25 billion “fine” is meant to represent Malaysia’s payment for “exploiting the natural wealth of Sabah”, which the Kiram clan continues to insist belongs to the Sulu Sultanate.
Sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani reportedly said yesterday that the charges in Malaysia were “illegal” and should not have been exacted against the eight individuals who were believed to be involved in the Sulu siege on the north Borneo territory.
“Walang basehan ang [There is no basis for] Malaysia to file charges against those eight Filipinos dahil hindi sila ang nagmamay-ari ng [because it did not own] Sabah,” Idjirani was quoted as telling a press conference in Taguig City, the Philippines.
“We condemn the terroristic act of Malaysia dahil sila ay hindi nagmamay-ari ng [because they don’t own] Sabah. They are just occupant so they have no right to file charges against Filipinos,” he added.
Idjirani also cast doubts over the identities of the eight who were charged, demanding the Malaysian authorities reveal where they had been apprehended.
He suggested that the eight may be mere civilians who were not part of the sultanate’s “royal army” which landed in Sabah on February 9.
Sulu “crown prince” Agbimuddin Kiram, the brother of “Sultan” Jamalul Kiram III, led a group of 235 armed militants to Sabah’s Lahad Datu on February 9 to stake the sultanate’s claim over the north Borneo state.
The intrusion has so far resulted in the deaths of 63 Sulu rebels, according to figures from Malaysian security forces, as well as 10 Malaysians, including eight policemen and two soldiers.
Malaysia launched Ops Daulat on March 5 to flush out the armed rebels after weeks of negotiation failed to result in a peaceful resolution.
Security forces are still conducting mopping-up operations today although intelligence officials believe that Agbimuddin has already fled Sabah to the Philippines.
Manila has said it will not abandon the sultanate’s claim over Sabah, even as Malaysian authorities insist the claim is no longer valid due to the inclusion of the state in the 1963 Malaysia agreement.
Read more:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/sulu-sultanate-to-fine-malaysia-for-illegally-developing-sabah/
