The Legend Of Azimuddin Kiram.

While discussing the Sulus the other day I  pondered the possibility that 72 year old Azimuddin Kiram never set foot in Lahad Datu. 

Perhaps that Haji Musa Abdullah fellow - the so called 70 year old superhuman general 

• who miraculously survived the Philippine Army's Jabidah Massacre 46 years ago in 1967 - by not being there 
• who then begged to rejoin the Philippine Army about NINE times 
• who then fought with the Philippine Army in Vietnam  
• who cannot even leap over short coconut trees in one leap 
• who cannot drink even a bottle of air syrup in one gulp  
• and who finally got killed by a single shot in Lahad Datu 

was the real ground commander in Lahad Datu.  Raja Muda Azimuddin Kiram may have been chilling his heels in Sitangkai, Sibutu, Simunul or somewhere like that. 

Here is some news from the Philippines about Azimuddin Kiram's mysterious whereabouts :

• Where is Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram?
• Malaysia’s security officials announced he was back in the Philippines.
• sources in Philippines said no information Agbimuddin in Philippines.
• no information that validates his presence here Manila said 
• Malaysia said Agbimuddin, a number of his men “fled” to Mindanao.
• reports indicated Agbimuddin no longer with his men in Sabah
• about 50 followers of Agbimuddin were in Lahad Datu area.
• Abraham Idjirani laughed Agbimuddin had left Sabah.
• Idjirani said he last spoke to Agbimuddin at 2 p.m. Friday in Sabah.

You can read more here. 

Folks say that in the first 10 days of the intrusion our Special Branch boys have photographed every single one of the Sulu intruders.  Unless there is a photograph of Azimuddin Kiram I dont think he was in Lahad Datu.  A 72 year old man - no matter how fit - cannot be running around the plantations evading bombs and bullets

72 year old Azimuddin on the right

Lets think about possibilities (Thats why its fun to read the Blogs). 

• He could have escaped from Tanduo when the bombardment began March 5th. Meaning he is alive in Mindanao. 
• Or maybe Azimuddin Kiram is dead and his body not found. Jamalul Kiram may have told the Sulus to quietly bury his body and hush it up.  They dont want the remaining Sulus to lose heart that their 72 year old invincible super commander is dead.
• Or our side may have found him dead, buried him and hushed it up. Our boys dont want another 1000 Sulus to jump on boats and head to Lahad Datu to avenge Azimuddin Kiram's death.

Now our Police say that Azimuddin Kiram has run away to Tawi Tawi. (This matches my hunch  that he was always on Tawi-Tawi and never set foot in Lahad Datu). 

This puts the Filipino government in some difficulty. If Azimuddin Kiram is alive in Tawi-Tawi, Aquino's government must arrest him, charge him and put him in jail. 

Worse they may have to extradite him to Malaysia. 

That is going to cause some serious problems for the Aquino government. It is better for the Philippines if Azimuddin Kiram is dead and buried somewhere among the coconut trees on some island. That is why the Filipino government insists that Azimuddin is not back. They dont want him back.

Sulu spokesman Abrahim Idjirani says Azimuddin is alive in Sabah. This makes it easier for Azimuddin to hide from public view if he is back in the Philippines. So they will just keep insisting that he is in Sabah. 

But if he does not appear in public soon either in Sabah or in the Philippines (because he is really dead but nobody wants to admit it) the Sulus and the Moros will get angry at the Philippine government. All sorts of conspiracy theories will come up. They will ultimately blame the Aquino government for his 'disappearance'.  That is exactly what Aquino wants to avoid. 

Lets see what happens over the next few days, weeks, months and years. Our Police will maintain that Azimuddin has left Sabah. The Filipino government will maintain that he is not back in the Philippines. The Kirams will say the same thing.

Maybe Azimuddin Kiram is chilling his heels with 

• CIA agent Jim Thompson who mysteriously disappeared in the Cameron Highlands in 1967 
• or Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt who mysteriously disappeared while swimming in the sea in  1967 
• or Mafia Boss Jimmy Hoffa who mysteriously disappeared in 1975

Maybe Azimuddin is near earth orbit - riding a mysterious Sulu spaceship. Look at the night sky folks - if you see a tiny spot of light towards the east - maybe thats him.