The Johor government was today directed by state ruler Sultan Ibrahim Mahmud Iskandar to set up a special team to look into appealing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision awarding Pedra Branca, or Pulau Batu Puteh, to Singapore in 2008.
Sultan Ibrahim is quoted by the online versions of Malay dailies Utusan Malaysia andSinar Harian, as making the call today when opening the Johor legislative assembly sitting, saying he wants the island to be a part of Johor.
The state ruler said although foreign affairs falls under the federal government, it is not wise for Johor not to be consulted or brought to the negotiation table, since the matter involves Johor's interests and neighbour Singapore.
“Don't the Johor people understand their neighbours better than those in Putrajaya? How would the federal government know of the state's needs or that of its people?” Sultan Ibrahim asked in his royal address to the state assembly.
The ICJ awarded the disputed atoll of Pedra Branca, as it is known to Singapore, or Pulau Batu Puteh as Malaysians call it, to the island republic in 2008. It also awarded the small island of Middle Rocks to Malaysia.
Sultan Ibrahim's father Sultan Mahmud Iskandar, upon learning of the loss of Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore, had in a state legislative assembly sitting that same year pledged he would find ways to claim back the island.
'Fake photograph submitted'
The matter came alive again last year when former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim said in a statutory declaration that the issue had also been discussed at a meeting he had with senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in August last year.
In his statutory declaration, Mat Zain claims that the the loss of Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore could have been caused by Malaysian legal team's incompetence in submitting a fake photograph (left) to the ICJ that depicted the island as located close to the Johor waters.
That notion sparked off a debate, with the retired senior police officer calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the loss of Pulau Batu Puteh as a result of the actions of the Malaysians legal team.
Sultan Ibrahim is quoted by the online versions of Malay dailies Utusan Malaysia andSinar Harian, as making the call today when opening the Johor legislative assembly sitting, saying he wants the island to be a part of Johor.The state ruler said although foreign affairs falls under the federal government, it is not wise for Johor not to be consulted or brought to the negotiation table, since the matter involves Johor's interests and neighbour Singapore.
“Don't the Johor people understand their neighbours better than those in Putrajaya? How would the federal government know of the state's needs or that of its people?” Sultan Ibrahim asked in his royal address to the state assembly.
The ICJ awarded the disputed atoll of Pedra Branca, as it is known to Singapore, or Pulau Batu Puteh as Malaysians call it, to the island republic in 2008. It also awarded the small island of Middle Rocks to Malaysia.
Sultan Ibrahim's father Sultan Mahmud Iskandar, upon learning of the loss of Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore, had in a state legislative assembly sitting that same year pledged he would find ways to claim back the island.
'Fake photograph submitted'
The matter came alive again last year when former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim said in a statutory declaration that the issue had also been discussed at a meeting he had with senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in August last year.
In his statutory declaration, Mat Zain claims that the the loss of Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore could have been caused by Malaysian legal team's incompetence in submitting a fake photograph (left) to the ICJ that depicted the island as located close to the Johor waters.That notion sparked off a debate, with the retired senior police officer calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the loss of Pulau Batu Puteh as a result of the actions of the Malaysians legal team.
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