Sultan's armed heirs refuse to leave Sabah

Abraham Idjirani, secretary general and spokesperson of the heirs to the sultanate, said Sultan Jamalul Kiram III was willing to get arrested if the Aquino government decided to file a case against the chieftain.

But Idjirani stressed that the “royal forces” of the Kirams did not intend to trigger a war when they started occupying the village of Tanduao in Lahad Datu in Sabah on February 9. “What we need now is a mutual understanding. We welcome the statement of the president. It’s a development on the right track,” Idjirani said in a press briefing held at Kiram’s house in Taguig City.

He said the Kiram followers’ decision to stay in Sabah “is not a hardline stance”.

The president yesterday called on Kiram III to stand down and order his followers to come home “as soon as possible”, warning of “consequences of your actions” should they continue to refuse to leave Lahad Datu in Sabah. Aquino issued the call in a televised address at an early morning press conference. 

“We have not yet reached the point of no return, but we are fast approaching that point,” the president said, referring to the 48-hour extended deadline imposed by Malaysian authorities for the group led by Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, brother of the sultan, to leave the village of Tanduao. The deadline was to expire yesterday.

“This is a situation that can’t persist,” the president noted, in effect, saying if the situation turned bloody, the sultan had only himself to blame. Aquino said last week that guns would never resolve the Sabah claim of the sultanate of Sulu.

This time, the president appealed for calm after Raja Muda told Radyo Inquirer 990 AM on Monday that the stand-off with Malaysian authorities was a “do or die” situation, and that the sultanate’s “Royal Security Force” would not leave Sabah “until the issue is resolved”.

 “The avenue of peaceful and open dialogue is still available to us. Let us therefore sit down as brothers to address your grievances in a peaceful, calm manner according to our laws and according to correct processes when your people arrive home,” Aquino said.

“What is clear is that a peaceful resolution of this issue is to everybody’s interest. Even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that there are legitimate grievances, the presence of an armed group in Lahad Datu will only bring us further away from resolving these issues.”