Sulu sultanate: Sabah claim will be 'covertly' discussed at ASEAN meet

MANILA, Philippines - The Sultanate of Sulu said Thursday that the Philippines and Malaysia will "covertly" discuss the Sabah claim of its heirs during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Brunei.

Sultanate of Sulu spokesman Abraham Idjirani said the Sabah standoff has now become a regional issue that the Philippines and Malaysia and the rest of the ASEAN members could not afford to ignore it.

“It will be discussed. But it will be done covertly. The Philippines and Malaysia do not want to alarm the other member countries about the seriousness of the issue,” said Idjirani.

Idjirani said Indonesia would be one of the other ASEAN member countries who should be alarmed if the standoff in Sabah is not resolved.

“Sabah is a neighboring territory of Kalimantan (which is in Indonesia). It (Indonesia) does not want to be alarmed by the situation. Malaysia and Indonesia are neighbors. Indonesia may appeal to Malaysia or the Philippines to take things slow,” Idjirani added.

According to Hernandez, President Aquino and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak have no scheduled bilateral meeting during the summit in Brunei on April 24 to 25 and that the Sabah claim may not be discussed by the two leaders.

Meanwhile, Idjirani said the Sultanate of Sulu would write to Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and ask him to resolve the Sabah standoff immediately.

Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III failed to meet Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah to discuss the Sabah issue with him during his recent state visit to Manila.