'1,000 MNLF fighters now in Sabah, to help sultan followers'

The 1,000 fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) from Sulu, Basilan and Zamboanga Peninsula who have volunteered to augment the Royal Security Force (RSF) of the Sultanate of Sulu in Lahad Datu have arrived in Sabah.

Abraham Idjirani, spokesman of the sultanate said the arrival of the fighters was confirmed to him by Agbimuddin Kiram who is commanding the now 500-strong RSF force in Lahad Datu.

“The volunteers,  (according to  Agbimuddin)  Kiram are already in Sabah,  although they have not yet joined the RSF,” said Idjirani.

Idjirani said the MNLF volunteers are fully-armed and are even carrying anti-tank weaponry with them.

Idjirani said the Agbimuddin’s men remain mobile as they evade Malaysian security forces.

“They have retreated a bit and have taken positions away from Kampung Tanduo and Tanjung Batu,” he said.

The Malaysian security forces meanwhile have strengthened their position at  Tawau which is Sabah’s third largest town after Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan.

“They (Malaysian security forces) have observed that it is easy to enter Lahad Datu from Tawau that is why they are beefing-up their position there,” said Idjirani.

Hajib Mujaha Hashim, chairman of the MNLF’s Islamic Command Council earlier said the volunteer MNLF fighters are seasoned guerrilla fighters.

“They (reinforcement) are experienced in guerrilla warfare. They are there not officially as MNLF but we could not prevent MNLF forces from going there and reinforcing the royal army of the Sultanate of Sulu in the area,” Hashim said.

Meanwhile, Idjirani said that although there is a lull in the fighting between the RSF and Malaysian security forces, he expects clashes to erupt soon, especially with the RSF’s augmentation.

“I expect clashes to happen soon. At the moment, the Malaysians are very busy with their upcoming election and do not want to disturb Sabah where there are more than 600,000 Bangsa Suluk residents and voters,” he said.

Idjirani said  although  Bangsa Suluks in Sabah  are  now voters in Malaysia, they still keep strong ties with Sulu.

“Prime Minister Najib (Razak) is afraid of offending them. It might cost him votes,” Idjirani said.

Meanwhile,  in Zamboanga City,  the council of royal "sharifs" (religious and property custodians), who are heirs and descendants of the Islamic Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo called on the people of Sulu to  unite  in seeking a peaceful resolution to the Sabah crisis.

Habib Mujahab Hashim, chairman of the council of royal sharifs, urged the Sulu people to regain Sabah by peacefully mobilizing all their resources to bring Malaysia to the negotiating table.

Hashim believed that the issue of Sabah can only be resolved if Malaysia agrees to settle the issue  with  the Sultanate of Sulu  before a neutral body acceptable to both sides, such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

“In calling for the end to the Sabah crisis, we believe that it is morally and spiritually wrong for two Islamic nations  – Malaysia and the Sultanate (sic) – to sacrifice human lives for the sake of a cause which can be addressed peacefully,” Hashim said.

Hashim said they strongly believe that the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo has the legitimate, legal and historical rights as shown by  pieces of documentary and factual evidence to assert its sovereignty rights over Sabah since the territory has been ceded to the Sultanate of Sulu some 310 years ago by the Sultanate of Brunei as a gesture of gratitude for helping quell a 10-year rebellion in its territory in the year 1704.

“This sovereignty right over Sabah has been recognized for long by great nations of the world at that time, but only recently did the sovereignty of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo has been questioned, denied and stolen from us before our eyes,” Hashim said.

The royal sharifs said  it was unfortunate that in 1878, Sabah was leased to British North Borneo Co.  Sulu Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam for a pittance of $5,000  a year.

“But this was done by the Sultan of Sulu for security reasons and to prevent Sabah from falling into the Spanish dominion which was then at war with the Sultanate of Sulu,” Hashim said.

He said the Lease Contract or better known as “Padjak” of Sabah was however, translated into English from Tausug as grant and cession by Maxwell and Gibson, which has now become the bone of contention and argument of the British colonialist government to illegally usurp Sabah.

In 1946, after World War II, the British North Borneo Co., a trading company that leased Sabah and does not have sovereign rights over Sabah,  transferred and ceded Sabah to the British Crown.

The British Crown then  annexed Sabah by placing Sabah under its dominion. Then in 1963 the British Crown  passed on  Sabah to the newly formed independent nation of Malaysian Federation after a plebiscite conducted to determine if Sabah inhabitants wished to  join Malaysia or not, without the consent of the sultanate of Sulu.

“Sabah was indeed stolen by the British to become part of Malaysia,” Hashim said.

“Yet, Malaysia continues to illegally assume the Lease Contract, which they cannot by virtue of its non-transferability clause, by continuously paying the lease amount which Malaysia treacherously claims as cession fee. Sabah was never sold. It will never be sold,” Hashim added.  - with Roel Pareño