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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Lahad Datu tragedy: ‘Govt must apologise’


Military intelligence failed to gather information to pre-empt the intrusion, says a former army deputy chief.
FULL REPORT
PETALING JAYA: The government must apologise to all Malaysians for its mistakes in the initial stage of handling the incursion in Lahad Datu, Sabah, said former army deputy chief, Lieutenant- General Abd Ghaffir Abd Hamid.
Speaking at a press conference held at PKR headquarters here, Ghaffir also said the tragedy in Lahad Datu was caused by the failure of the military intelligence to gather information to pre-empt the intrusion by the Filipinos.
“Since 2000, the Defence Staff Intelligence Division [BSPT] was used for political purposes, instead of gathering information on domestic and external threats.
“On top of that, we were not decisive when the intruders arrived on our shores in the early stages,” he said.
Also present were PKR deputy president and vice-president, Azmin Ali and Nurul Izzah Anwar.
To date, about 10 Malaysian security personnel had lost their lives in the armed intrusion in Lahad Datu.
Hundreds of Sabahans have left their homes and are living in shelters while waiting for the conflict to end.
Ghaffir said that BSPT’s objective has been blurred due to political interference, rendering it to lose its ability to gather vital intelligence on national security.
He also said that it was within Malaysia’s purview to act against the aggressors as it deemed fit, as per the rights given by the United Nations.
“But it was only after 23 days and two deaths that we acted against the armed foreigners. It’s definitely a failure of our decision-makers,” he said.
‘Stay out of conflict’
Ghaffir added that if the military and the police were given independence to act, the matter could have been resolved fast.
“Politicians must stay out of the conflict zone. If not, the security forces’ objective become cluttered.
“They must understand this. Even in the US, politicians stay away from US military’s operations,” said Ghaffir.
During the early stages of the intrusion, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein dismissed claims that the Sulu men were dangerous, describing them as “old men wearing sarongs and slippers”.
On a related matter, Nurul also urged Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to call for an emergency parliamentary sitting to discuss the Lahad Datu incident.
“Please give us a chance to pay respects to our fallen heroes. The intrusion is a national crisis and we need a bipartisan solution to this,” said the Lembah Pantai MP.

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