Zahid: We want ruthless intruders 'arrested or dead'

The Filipino intruders should be tried according to the Malaysian laws for brutally and inhumanely killing eight policemen, said Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

"We will ensure that no Filipino terrorists escape from our dragnet and we want them dead or arrested," he told reporters after launching the Gopeng BN and non-governmental organisation carnival in Ipoh today.

Zahid did not rule out that the intruders were under the influence of drugs or using black magic for resorting to such dastardly act.

"In the laws of war, intruders or members of the security forces cannot mutilate bodies like ripping off eyes, decapitating heads or cutting up bodies.

"What they did was unacceptable to Malaysia for this acts showed that the Filipino terrorists have no mercy," he said, adding that the armed forces would leave it to the police to take appropriate action against the terrorists according to the law.

The police have confirmed last Thursday that the six police officers who were killed at Kampung Simunul in Semporna on March 2 were found to be badly mutilated.

There were previous reports that one of the victims were beheaded and another had his eyes gouged out.

Mopping-up operations

Zahid said no party should question who led the mopping-up operations for the armed forces and the police worked hand in hand in defending the country.

"We want the people to know that when the situation calls for it, the police and the armed forces can work together. That is why the armed forces chief and the inspector-general of police had been holding joint news conferences," he added.

On self-proclaimed Sultan Jamalul Kiram III's call for a ceasefire, Zahid said the government would not compromise as there were no sign of the terrorists letting up.

"I have been at ground zero, and I could see that they intended to continue to occupy the areas that they had intruded as they had been promised a sum of money and farm land in Sabah by Jamalul Kiram and other leaders," he added.

- Bernama