Sulu 'sultan' now wants help from US, Britain

The self-styled Sulu sultan at the centre of the current violence in Sabah said he was seeking help from the United States and Britain.

STATELESS SULTAN? Jamalul, whose ancestors pawned Sabah to Western powers, now wants to turn to them for help

However, he did not specify the nature of assistance being sought.

“We are not waiting anymore. No more. There is no help (from the Philippines),” Jamalul Kiram was quoted by Manila Bulletin as telling a Filipino radio station, adding that his group would now rely on the United Nations, US, and UK.

This comes as one of the groups who had fought for self-determination in southern Philippines made several astounding claims, including hinting that its men will join the armed intruders in Sabah to fight Malaysian security forces following the launching of Ops Sulu early today.

According to Manila Times, the Moro National Liberation Front headed by Nur Misuari has deployed its combatants within Sabah to join the armed gunmen loyal to Jamalul Kiram.

A spokesman of the so-called 'Royal Sulu Army' however denied that MNLF had come to its aide, but went on to claim that fightings have now reached Sandakan.

The MNLF also claimed that their men had entered Sabah on Sunday after breaching a security cordon in Sandakan and ambushing two truckloads belonging to Malaysian Territorial Army Regiment.

“The reinforcements were able to wipe them out,” said Habib Mujahab Hashim, chairman of the MNLF’S Islamic Command Council.

Adding to this claim is MNLF's Hadji Acmad Bayam who said that the group's Malaysian-trained commanders "who know Sabah like the palm of their hands" could mobilise its men and activate hidden arsenal inside Sabah.

"Among the firearms are Belgian-made G1 and FAL, which the late Libya leader Colonel Moammar Khadafy supplied through Malaysia," says a news update by Manila Bulletin.

The report said Bayam, who said Kuala Lumpur had been 'milking' Sabah, had stayed in Sabah for nine years before the peace talks with the late Fidel Ramos's administration in 1993.

None of the claims can be verified, but seasoned guerrilla groups in southern Philippines are well known for their use of propaganda and rhetoric during their decades-old armed struggle against Manila.

-Harakahdaily