Lahad Datu News Compilation Thread

[MidnightSun]

Sunday March 24, 2013

Lahad Datu: Security forces nab two key figures of Sulu terror group

By STEPHANIE LEE
[email protected]

LAHAD DATU: Two key figures implicated in the intrusion of the Sulu terror group into Sabah have been detained by Malaysian security forces.

Also caught were their wives, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said yesterday.

One of them is the son of a former village chief of Kampung Tanduo, where the gunmen were first holed up in after entering Sabah on Feb 6.

He is said to be the local coordinator for the Sulu gunmen.

The man, in his 40s, was arrested in the Felda Sahabat area at about 10pm on Friday. He held a Malaysian identity card.

Khalid, who gave these details at his daily media conference, said the police had, however, detained him under the Immigration Act while verifying his identification documents.

“He is an important figure as he was the one who arranged for the accommodation, food, water and medical treatment since the group arrived here,’’ Khalid added.

The other is believed to be the group’s military commander.

He was picked up while hiding in the swamps in Semporna as police further crippled the network of terrorists operating there and in Lahad Datu.

Also in his 40s, the second man was caught at about 1am yesterday. He was found to be in possession of a Philippine passport.

“They have lost their source of local support and they now have no direction with their commander caught,’’ Khalid said, declining to elaborate on the identity of the commander.

He said security forces managed to conduct the arrests with the assistance of the local people in the areas concerned.

Khalid said 408 people had so far been detained under various laws since the launch of the Ops Daulat offensive against the Sulu terror group on March 5.

Another 108 people have been detained under the Special Offences (Special Measures) Act.

He said security forces had so far removed 38 bodies of the 63 gunmen killed in the ongoing offensive.

 

[MidnightSun]

Dr M: Malaysia knows guerrilla combat, Sulu Sultan ‘ignorant’

BY CLARA CHOOI
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
MARCH 24, 2013

Soldiers fire a machine gun near Sungai Nyamuk in Lahad Datu March 12, 2013. — Ministry of Defence handout photo

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 ― Dr Mahathir Mohamad appeared to suggest today that the Sulu insurgents in Sabah were underestimating the ability of Malaysia’s security forces, saying self-styled Sultan Jamalul Kiram III’s orders for guerrilla warfare was borne of “ignorance”.

He pointed out that guerrilla tactics were familiar to Malaysian soldiers and police, whom he also said were willing to die in the defence of their homeland and people out of love for the country.

“Perhaps Jamalul Kiram knows nothing about how Malaysia dealt with the guerrillas,” Dr Mahathir wrote in a post on his blog at chedet.cc.

“His suggestion about conducting a guerrilla war in Malaysia seems to be based on ignorance.”

Malaysian security forces have killed 63 Sulu militants and arrested 408 suspected supporters since the start of the incursion last month, and yesterday said they have crippled the group’s movement with the capture of its military commander.

Local security intelligence believe the group’s leader and Jamalul’s brother, Agbimuddin Kiram, had abandoned his remaining forces in Sabah’s Lahad Datu on March 11 and fled back to southern Philippines where he is currently evading capture by island-hopping. Since clashes began between Agbimuddin’s band of 235 rebels and Malaysian forces on March 1, a total of 10 Malaysian lives have been lost ― eight policemen and two soldiers.

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia has been following the decades of violent standoffs by the Moro people in southern Philippines, but added that the situation here is vastly different.

“Malaysia... is well aware that guerrillas can be disruptive. It can render Malaysia less stable and secure.

“But the situation today is much better for Malaysia to defeat any attempt at guerrilla war by the Kiram and Suluks,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said this is because the hearts and minds of Malaysians are generally with the government, despite the existence of some detractors from the opposition.

He said the Malaysian government also has enough money to help relocate those who may be terrorised into supporting the invaders, therefore blocking them from strengthening their army with local reinforcements.

But most important of all, the still-influential Dr Mahathir said, were the men and women who make up Malaysia’s security forces.

“The soldiers and police who are currently participating in the fight against the terrorist in Lahad Datu are well-trained and well equipped,” he said. “The Malaysian forces have inherited the knowledge and the skills in fighting anti-guerrilla wars.”

Dr Mahathir said the spirit of patriotism in the Malaysian forces is very high and the attempt by the Sulu militants to frighten them by desecrating the bodies of their comrades had not worked.

“If at all it has made our security personnel very angry and more determine to defeat the enemy. It has become almost a personal war for them,” he said.

The former prime minister added an appeal to Malaysians nationwide to be thankful to the local forces for their willingness to die for the country in defence of its sovereignty and the safety of its people.

“If we are safe and secure, if we are stable and free from fear of guerrilla attacks it is because our soldiers and police are ready to die for us.

“I think there is much for us to be grateful about and to say thank you to the people who secure our peace and stability,” he said.

 

[MidnightSun]

RCI on Sulu invasion to be announced Monday, says Hishammuddin

UPDATED @ 07:05:55 AM 24-03-2013

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 – A Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) will be formed to investigate the Sulu incursion in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein confirmed today.

According to a report on The Star Online, the minister (picture) said details of the RCI would only be revealed during a press conference by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Monday.

°In the meantime, my ministry has been doing the necessary groundwork, such as identifying five Customs, Immigration and Customs (CIQ) complexes and seven new police stations to be built in areas including Bum Bum, Gaya and Pulai Banggi,” Hishammuddin was quoted telling reporters in Kluang, Johor, today.

The minister added that Malaysia’s Special Branch has been working closely with the Philippine National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) on the exchange of intelligence regarding the armed incrusion.

The invasion for the 235-strong group of militants from southern Philippines was a wake-up call for Malaysia, Hishammuddin said, according to The Star.

“This is a way for us to empower and strengthen our agencies that may be weak in certain areas based on new challenges that the country faces,” he was quoted saying.

Followers of the self-styled Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III landed in Lahad Datu on February 9 to lay the sultanate’s centuries-old claim over Sabah, the north Borneo territory that was gifted by the Brunei Sultan to the Sulu Sultan in the 17th century.

Earlier today, deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said security forces here have successfully crippled the movements of the Sulu gunmen after capturing its military commander in Semporna this morning.

According to Bernama, the DIGP said the man, in his 40s, was detained with his wife at a swampy area at 1.30am after a tip-off.

“The local co-ordinator has been identified as the individual who made arrangements for food and drinks, accommodation, transportation and medicine for the terrorists since the early part of the intrusion.

“With the capture of the commander and a local stooge of the terrorists, I am confident the terrorist group is now crippled,” he was quoted telling a press conference in Lahad Datu.

To date, 63 Sulu gunmen have fallen at the hands of local security forces, while 408 have been arrested.

Ten Malaysians have also been killed during separate skirmishes since March 1, including eight policemen and two soldiers.

 

[MidnightSun]

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Lahad Datu: Caught Sulu gunmen commander confirmed as Datu Amir Bahar Hushin Kiram

LAHAD DATU - The security forces on Sunday confirmed that the Sulu military commander caught in Semporna on Saturday is Datu Amir Bahar Hushin Kiram.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Amir Bahar, who is in his late 40s, had been the commander issuing orders to the gunmen since their intrusion into Lahad Datu on Feb 12.

"He is being detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012," he told a news conference, also attended by Chief of Defence Forces Gen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin at the Felda Sahabat 16 operations command near here.

The security forces had caught Amir Bahar and his wife in a swampy area at about 1.30am on Saturday.

Bernama

 

[MidnightSun]

Monday March 25, 2013

Lahad Datu: Probe can be in the form of RCI or White Paper

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KUALA LUMPUR: The probe into the armed intrusion in Lahad Datu early this month will come in the form of either a White Paper or a Royal Commission of Inquiry, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said.

“Be it a White Paper or RCI, I am confident it will be set up once things are settled in Sabah,” he said after launching the Gombak Barisan Nasional Youth election machinery here yesterday.

Hishammuddin said a thorough probe was needed in various aspects of the incident, including third-party involvement and rumours that spread fear.

Citing an example, he said a recent Sulu wedding entourage led to rumours of more armed intruders.

“Be wary of information on Lahad Datu that is spread via SMSes and the Internet, as 80% are false,” he said.

On a related issue, Hishammuddin said the authorities are aware of claims that Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahom had met Moro National Liberation Front leader Nur Misuari on five occassions between July 16 last year and last month.

 

[MidnightSun]

Monday March 25, 2013

Lahad Datu: Hard to tell gunmen and villagers apart, says army veteran

By P. ARUNA
[email protected]

PETALING JAYA: A major challenge for the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) would be to differentiate the intruders from the villagers, an army veteran said.

“The authorities will have to be very careful in trying to determine who the real villagers are and who the intruders are.

“Many of them could be descendents of the Sulu people who have been living in Sabah for generations,” said Malaysian Armed Forces Veteran Affairs Department director-general Maj-Gen Datuk Zulkiflee Mazlan.

He said that the food and supplies for the intruders must be cut off, similar to what was done during the communist insurgency.

“We have to isolate them and ensure that they no longer have support from the local community,” he said, referring to it as a “food denial operation”.

Zulkiflee said that strict enforcement on immigration documents was needed apart from stringent border monitoring by maritime agencies.

“We must also look into psychological measures to ensure that the loyalty of the Suluk community in Sabah is towards Malaysia and that there are no sympathisers,” he said.

Zulkiflee said the police and military personnel could do this by rebuilding the villagers' homes which were destroyed, besides bringing development to the surrounding areas to improve their livelihood.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will be announcing fresh details on the Esscom today.

 

[MidnightSun]

Monday March 25, 2013

Lahad Datu: Village chief to lead men in return to Kg Tanduo

LAHAD DATU: The village chief of Kampung Tanduo and heads of households will be taken into the village to assess their homes and farms.

Security forces are planning to allow them to check their houses which they abandoned on Feb 12 after the intrusion of Lahad Datu by an armed Sulu group led by Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram, which led to a three-week standoff before they were flushed out.

Armed Forces chief Jeneral Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin said these families could be allowed to do so by tomorrow.

“After a final sweep, we may be able to bring them in to look at the situation and let them have an idea of the losses incurred,” he said at the daily Ops Daulat media briefing at Felda Sahabat yesterday.

He said an assessment team comprising, among others, the Lahad Datu district officer and police were also carrying out an assessment of the damage to the estimated 15 houses in Tanduo.

Some 80 families fled their homes after the gunmen appeared.

By March 5, security forces used air and artillery strikes to flush out the gunmen.

However, some of them managed to flee to neighbouring villages.

The affected families are staying at shelters set up by the Government.

Marine police took reporters on a boat ride along the Tanjung Labian coast on Saturday to show them the coastline from Tanduo to Kg Bilis.

The situation appeared calm from about a kilometre from the coast. Occasionally, smoke could be seen billowing in the aftermath of mortar fire but the villages were deserted.

 

[MidnightSun]

Monday March 25, 2013

Lahad Datu: Top Sulu commander held

By MUGUNTAN VANAR and STEPHANIE LEE
[email protected]

Top brass: Armed Forces chief Jen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin and Khalid briefing members of the media in Lahad Datu. —Bernama

LAHAD DATU: A top commander of the Sulu armed group, who has been on the run prior to Malaysia's offensive to flush out the terrorists from Tanduo on March 5, has been arrested.

Police identified him as Datu Amir Bahar Hushin Kiram, who is believed to be a key player in the Feb 9 intrusion.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Amir Bahar, who is in his late 40s, had been the ground commander issuing orders to the Sulu gunmen led by Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram, since the standoff with security forces.

Amir Bahar, who is a nephew of the self-proclaimed Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram, is being detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act after he and his wife were arrested in a swampy area of Kg Melur Bugaya at about 1.30am on Saturday.

With Amir Bahar's arrest and the detention of a local coordinator identified as Datu Amir Khan and his wife on Friday night, Khalid said that they have crippled the so-called royal Sulu army whose leader Azzimudie Kiram fled on March 11, leaving his followers behind.

Khalid said 416 people had been detained in Ops Daulat, whereby 110 of them are under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act including Amir Bahar and his wife.

When contacted by telephone in Manila, the Kiram family's spokesman Abraham Indjani said that Amir Bahar was the son of Esmail Kiram and a nephew to Jamalul and Azzimudie.

“He has nothing to do with the intrusion and had settled in Lahad Datu a long time ago doing his own business,” he said.

“In the early part of negotiations (during the standoff), Amir Bahar's help was sought by Malaysian police to negotiate with Azzimudie to leave,” he said, claiming that Amir Bahar was not involved.

Residents here said that following the breakdown of negotiations, the nephew (who was initially thought to be a Kiram brother) had gone missing and was believed to have gone to Semporna.

 

[MidnightSun]

Monday March 25, 2013

Lahad Datu: Mum, kids killed in shootout

By STEPHANIE LEE
[email protected]

Body bags: Military personnel carrying bodies to be sent for postmortem in Kg Tanjung Batu. — Bernama

LAHAD DATU: Four bodies, including those of a woman and two children, were found in a house after a shootout with Sulu terrorists at Tanjung Batu here.

“A soldier and a boy were injured in the operation,” Armed Forces chief Jen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin said during the Ops Daulat media briefing at Felda Sahabat 16 here yesterday.

He said the injured boy was found with the four inside the house after the shootout yesterday morning.

“The soldier was shot on the left side of his body during the gunfight and is undergoing treatment.

“The injured boy has been airlifted to Sandakan Hospital,'' he added.

Jen Zulkifeli said security forces also found food believed to have been stored in the house.

He said the four bodies have been sent to the hospital here for a post-mortem.

Meanwhile, Jen Zulkifeli said the remaining gunmen were mostly moving in groups of two or three.

Their modus operandi is to lure security forces into an area and provoke them into a gunfight before retreating into a house and continuing to fire ,

“After that, one of them would escape to a nearby house and set it on fire to distract our attention so the one in the earlier house could attack from behind.

“After setting the house on fire, they would then escape into the nearby bush or swamp,” he added.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said no documents were found on the dead.

 

[MidnightSun]

Published: Monday March 25, 2013 MYT 10:03:00 AM
Updated: Monday March 25, 2013 MYT 6:53:28 PM

Lahad Datu: PM announces formation of Eastern Sabah Safety Zone

One of several cabins being moved into position for the setting up of Eastern Sabah Safety Zone (ESSZONE) in Lahad Datu.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Eastern Sabah Safety Zone (ESSZONE) to prevent incursions and ensure the security of the state comes into effect Monday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who announced the setting up of the zone, said it would cover the eastern districts Kudat, Kota Marudu, Pitas, Beluran, Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Lahad Datu, Kunak and Semporna and Tawau.

"The zone will be administered by a committee. Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has been appointed ESSZONE committee chairman.

"He will be assisted by a chief executive officer and other members to be announced later," Najib said in his speech during the 206th Police Day Celebrations held at the Police Training Academy (Pulapol).

Malaysian security forces have been conducting operations in the east coast of Sabah over the past weeks to flush out a group of Sulu gunmen from the area.

The group from southern Philippines had been holed up in Kampung Tanduo since Feb 9.

 

[MidnightSun]

Published: Monday March 25, 2013 MYT 5:48:00 PM
Updated: Monday March 25, 2013 MYT 11:10:38 PM

Lahad Datu: A-G says Azzimudie will stand trial for his crimes in Malaysia

By JOSEPH SIPALAN

Deputy IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (middle) and his officers cut a cake in conjunction with Police Day celebrations in Lahad Datu on Monday.

PUTRAJAYA: Attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said the self-proclaimed Raja Muda of Sulu - Azzimudie Kiram will have to stand trial in Malaysia for leading an armed invasion of Lahad Datu in Sabah last February.

"I don't care if (he is) Malaysian or not... you commit such an offence and we will go after you," he said at a press conference at his office here on Monday.

Azzimudie, who also goes by the name Agbimuddin, was reported to have slipped out of the country and gone into hiding since March 11 after Malaysian security forces launched a counter-offensive to flush out the 200-odd armed Sulu terrorists he led in an invasion of Lahad Datu.

The Opposition later claimed that they had come across records that allegedly showed that Azzimudie had at one time worked as an assistant district officer in Sabah.

 

[MidnightSun]

Published: Monday March 25, 2013 MYT 11:08:00 PM
Updated: Monday March 25, 2013 MYT 11:10:28 PM

Lahad Datu: Gunman stumbles upon security forces, surrenders

LAHAD DATU: A Sulu gunman surrendered himself after stumbling upon security forces carrying the Ops Daulat mopping-up operations in Tanjung Batu Monday.

At about 5pm, a special task force unit of the Armed Forces was conducting the operation in a swampy area when they bumped into the gunman.

The intruder tried to flee but was caught after a chase.

The man, believed to be unarmed, gave himself up by raising his hands and asking security forces not to shoot him. It is learnt that two tanks were rushed to the area to continue hunting for other gunmen.

The rush for support was necessary as the decision to surrender could be another ploy to lure security forces into an ambush.

However, after clearing the position, security forces moved in to detain the man and hand him over to the VAT69 team for further action.

Army chief Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin confirmed the incident. - Bernama

 

[MidnightSun]

Sulu insurgency will be short-lived, says Zulkifeli

MARCH 25, 2013

Zulkifeli speaks during a press conference in Felda Sahabat March 8, 2013.—Picture by Saw Siow Feng

LANGKAWI, March 25 — Armed Forces Chief Gen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin is confident the crisis involving a terrorist intrusion into Sabah will be resolved soon, with the support and cooperation of local residents.

He said, of late, the residents were getting bolder in providing information on the country’s enemies.

“Some villagers have even joined security forces in the operation to capture the Sulu terrorists who are getting weaker as their leaders have abandoned them and their armoury store.

“Public co-operation enabled the security forces to capture a Sulu terrorist general and his wife at a swamp in Semporna last Saturday,” he said, rejecting the views of some parties that the terrorists from southern Philippines would lead to a drawn-out guerrilla war.

Zulkifeli was speaking to reporters after lunch with Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, navy officers and the media on board the battleship, KD Kelantan, which was anchored off the Region 3 Marine headquarters, in conjunction with the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace 2013 (LIMA 2013) exhibition today.

To date, 65 terrorists have been shot dead and 110 captured under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, with 416 other people detained for various offences, including being at the prohibited zone of “Ops Daulat”.

Nevertheless, Zulkifeli did not rule out the possibility of fleeing Sulu terrorists returning as the security forces were ready for them.

“I just came back from Lahad Datu yesterday, we are now mopping up Kampung Tanjung Batu, and we will be in control of the area with our security forces,” he said. — Bernama

 

[MidnightSun]

Tuesday March 26, 2013

Lahad Datu: A-G: Law will catch up with Azzimudie

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PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will not quit until Azzimudie Kiram, who led the armed incursion into Lahad Datu in Sabah, is brought back here to face charges.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said the self-proclaimed Raja Muda of Sulu could not escape the long arm of the law.

“You commit such an offence and we will go after you,” he said at a press conference in his office here.

Azzimudie is believed to have slipped back to the Philippines after Malaysian security forces launched an attack on his group of gunmen earlier this month.

He remains in hiding.

Meanwhile in LAHAD DATU, Bernama reported that a Sulu terrorist, who surrendered himself after coming across security forces on a mopping up operation in Tanjung Batu here, had been detained.

In the 5pm incident, a special task force unit of the Armed Forces was conducting the operation in a swampy area when it bumped into the terrorist.

The terrorist tried to run but gave up after a chase.

 

[MidnightSun]

Tuesday March 26, 2013

Lahad Datu: Armed Forces in full control of Kg Tanjung Batu

LANGKAWI: The armed forces are in control of Kampung Tanjung Batu as the area has been cleared.

Armed Forces chief Jen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin said security forces would remain in residential areas, oil palm plantations and along the shore.

“The security forces will live with the villagers here and in Kampung Tanduo,” he said in a press conference at the Royal Malaysian Navy base in Mawilla 3 after touring the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhi*bition 2013 (Lima) yesterday.

Jen Zulkifefli also said the villagers were more willing to share information with the authorities now, leading to the arrest of se*veral Sulu gunmen.

“With the recent arrests, we believe the number of gunmen left in the country has gone down.

“They are now moving in small pockets and we also found hidden weapons in the villages,” he said.

Jen Zulkifeli also said villagers would soon be allowed to return once the area was de**clared safe.

“Life will go back to normal soon but they cannot go home yet as damage assessment is still being conducted.

“In the meantime, the Federal Government is housing the villagers in temporary shelters,” he added.

 

[MidnightSun]

Tuesday March 26, 2013

Lahad Datu: Esszone set up to halt incursions

By FARIK ZOLKEPLI and AUSTIN CAMOENS
[email protected]

Safe hands: Najib shaking hands with a VAT 69 member at Pulapol in Kuala Lumpur. Looking on is VAT 69 commander Datuk Azizan Abdul Aziz (right). — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: The Eastern Sabah Safety Zone (Esszone) to prevent incursions and ensure the security of the state has been formed.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that it comprised 10 districts Kudat, Kota Marudu, Pitas, Beluran, Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and Tawau.

The zone, he said, would be administered by the Esszone Committee chaired by Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, with its headquarters in Lahad Datu.

“He (Musa) will be assisted by a chief executive officer and other members to be announced later,” he said during the 206th Police Day Celebrations at the Police Training Academy yesterday.

Najib said the formation of the safety zone was in line with the setting up of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), aimed at safeguarding eastern Sabah.

“The establishment of Esszone does not constitute a declaration of emergency. It will not prevent free and democratic elections from taking place in the area involved.”

It is learnt Esscom would act as an authoritative body for the Esszone. For example, any activity, be it social or security efforts in the safety zone, would be coordinated through Esscom.

He said that seven new police stations would be included in the Esszone. The areas are Tambisan, Tanjung Labian, Cenderawasih Felda Sahabat in Lahad Datu, Pulau Bum Bum and Pulau Mabul in Semporna as well as Pulau Gaya and Pulau Banggi.

He also explained that the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, used to investigate cases involving terrorists in Sabah, was merely procedural and that every arrest made under the Act would involve prosecution based on regular laws similar to other criminal cases.

The Prime Minister also announced a resettlement initiative for people living in certain areas in eastern Sabah due to their vulnerability to intrusions by illegal immigrants and stateless persons.

“Part III of the Preservation of Public Security Regulations would enable the Government to resettle any person or group especially illegal immigrants or stateless persons.

“The Government will take into account not just the safety of those resettled but also residents living in the resettlement area,” he said, adding that discussions would be held with district, native or village chiefs about their resettlement and source of livelihood.

The resettlement initiative would be extended to the rest of Sabah if there was a need to do so, he added.

“I want to stress that the Government has never doubted the loyalty of Malaysians of Suluk descent,” he said.

At a press conference later, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said five battalions and a brigade consisting of police and the armed forces would be deployed to Esszone.

“The Police Motorcycle Unit will also be deployed there. The Prime Minister has even agreed to increase the number of motorcycles nationwide due to the successs the unit has yielded,” he said.

 

[MidnightSun]

Published: Tuesday March 26, 2013 MYT 1:29:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday March 26, 2013 MYT 2:29:28 PM

Lahad Datu: Deputy IGP - Sulu gunman surrendered because he was weak and hungry

By STEPHANIE LEE

LAHAD DATU: Having not eaten for more than two weeks prompted a Sulu gunman to finally surrender himself to security forces on Monday.

The weakened gunman surrendered to security personnel combing through a swamp near Kampung Tanjung Batu at about 5pm, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Tuesday.

"The man was in a very poor state, he was starving and hadn't had a good night's rest these past several weeks," he said, adding that he hoped remaining gunmen would also surrender soon.

Meanwhile, Khalid said 42 out of the 116 people detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) had been freed.

He, however, did not disclose identities of those released.

Khalid said 29 out of the 40 bodies of the gunmen had been buried at an unidentified area, while statistics of suspected enemies killed remained at 67.

He said 20 villagers taken to visit Kampung Tunduo Tuesday morning - the site of the stand-off and subsequent operations against the Sulu gunmen since March 5.

Khalid said the group, comprising the village chief and heads of families, were taken into the village to have a look at the damage there and inspect their properties for compensation purposes.

"Other villagers and the media can only be allowed in at a later date," he said.

 

[MidnightSun]

Published: Tuesday March 26, 2013 MYT 2:28:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday March 26, 2013 MYT 6:16:23 PM

Lahad Datu: Individuals in Sandakan, Semporna financing militants, says cop

LAHAD DATU: Police have discovered that several individuals in Sandakan and Semporna have been sending money to Jolo Island in the Philippines to support militants, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Tuesday.

He said these people were under surveillance and would be arrested for treason.

The sending of money to finance militants in Jolo was a serious offence and those involved could be arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), he told a news conference at the operations command at Felda Sahabat 16, near here.

He said they could be prosecuted under laws which provided for life imprisonment or the death penalty upon conviction.

"My advice to these individuals is to stop doing so (sending money) as it amounts to treason. The police will not hesitate to act," he said.

Khalid did not disclose the number of individuals or the amount of money involved, but said the penalty under the law was the same for any sum of money sent. - Bernama

 

[MidnightSun]

‘Sulu terrorist’s’ capture: Escape or surrender?

By Allan Nawal Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:38 am | Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

DIGOS CITY, Philippines– Could it be possible that members of the so-called Sulu “royal army” threw away whatever weapons they earlier possessed so they could escape the manhunt on their group by some 5,000 Malaysian security forces?

This question popped up among Sabahans, who called up a radio station based in the said state, shortly after a news anchor read a report saying an “unarmed Sulu terrorist” had surrendered after stumbling into a team of security forces in Tanjung Batu around 5 p.m. Monday.

In the report, the unidentified “Sulu terrorist” ran when he saw a team of security forces as he tackled a swampy area of Tanjung Batu but he was later caught and was forced to surrender, the radio station said, quoting an unnamed military official.

Sabah residents who called up the station said they wondered where the man’s firearm could be.

One listener said he could not understand why a “terrorist” would wander without anything to defend himself from the very same forces that have been hunting him and his group.

State-run Berita Nasional Malaysia (Bernama) said Malaysian Army Chief General Zulkifli Zainal Abidin has confirmed the surrender of the suspected “Sulu terrorist.”

Bernama said Abidin had also confirmed the man – whose identity had not been released – is now under the custody of the Special Forces of the Malaysian police.

Malaysian police Deputy Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar, the state-run media said, has declined to release anymore information as the details of the man’s surrender will be released during the regular morning news conference on the Sabah crisis.

 

[MidnightSun]

Kiram nephew arrested

By Marlon Ramos Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:18 am | Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Sultanate of Sulu on Monday confirmed Malaysian authorities had arrested a nephew of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III but denied the detained Filipino was involved in the incursion into Sabah last month.

Abraham Idjirani, the sultanate’s spokesperson, said Datu Ahmirbahar Hussein Kiram and his wife, Gina Tevez, were seized by Malaysian police on Saturday from their house in Semporna, a coastal town several kilometers away from Lahad Datu, where the sultan’s followers landed on Feb. 9.

Ahmirbahar is a son of Sultan Bantilan Esmail Kiram, the sultan’s younger brother who earlier met with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and discussed the possible “disengagement” of the sultanate’s followers from Sabah, Idjirani said.

With a report from Tarra Quismundo