March 6, 2013 http://www.nst.com.my The Sabah Claim Issue: A Thorn in Malaysia-Philippines Relations LONG-STANDING: The Philippines' claim on Sabah has remained unresolved for nearly 50 years, writes Dr Paridah Abd Samad–Part 1 The level of irritation in the relationship between Malaysia and the Philippines is considered unnatural for two immediate neighbours who belong to a common regional grouping. The Philippine's claim on Sabah, one of Malaysia's 13 states, is an issue that has remained unresolved for nearly 50 years. Once a part of the Sultanate of Sulu, Sabah's land area exceeds 29,000 square miles, smaller than neighbouring Mindanao by about 8,000 square miles. Its centuries-old ties with the Philippines are indicated by the fact that inhabitants of both came from the same racial stock and have similar customs and traditions. The Sultan of Brunei originally ruled this part of Borneo, but in 1704, the Sultan of Sulu helped suppress an uprising ther

Free Malaysia Today's news article  What role did the Scorpene subs play?  reported: Yo Dr Kua, Mabuhay KUALA LUMPUR: Suaram director Kua Kia Soong has questioned the strategy used by the armed forces in Lahad Datu. "What role did the Scorpene submarines play in the Lahad Datu crisis? "Is it wise to use jet fighters like the Hornets against a motley group of 250 Sulu men in a 4km radius? Shouldn't we be using helicopters such as the Apache instead? "Where was the Navy to prevent the invaders from coming in?" he asked during the launch of Malaysian civil society's 20-point demands for the 13th general election at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall this morning. Now, while I respect Dr Kua, and some of his points as reported in the FMT news article have been reasonable (not presented above), I consider his queries on the use of Scorpene and type of military strike aircraft in the Lahad Datu crisis, where his stated preference was for Apache

UPDATE3  A retired senior general took Prime Minister Najib Razak to task for mishandling the Lahad Datu intrusion that has so far claimed 27 lives, eight of whom were Malaysian policemen, saying that the incident could have been resolved more swiftly and efficiently if the "command structure" had been clearly spelled out. "I had my fears this question would be asked. This question requires a deliberate response. Here we are talking about the police and the armed forces. When you have that, you need a very clear command structure ... who coordinates ... and I think it was not there. Yes we have our strategic reserve and I think the reserve we have is quite  enough to take on the enemy and ake it off balance. That is the purpose of strategic reserve, if the the strategic reserve is deployed, the enemy is almost liquidated," Retired General Md Hashim Hussein told a press conference on Wednesday. "If I can relate to Sauk a few years ago we

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 – The armed intruders in Lahad Datu must halt their resistance against Malaysian security forces and surrender first in order for any possible negotiations to take place, said former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. "They cannot continue being aggressive. If they want to negotiate, they must lay down their weapons first," he told reporters after the 'Sharing the Experience of Nation Building' discourse at the Islamic Art Museum, here today. It is impossible to provide an opportunity for talks until they give a guarantee that there will be no more violence, as this involves the safety of the residents and security personnel there, he said. "They have killed our people in a cruel manner. This has provoked the anger of the deceased's next-of-kin and colleagues. We cannot take it lightly as they died in our defence," he said. He was commenting on a local newspaper report based on Rappler.com quoting Moro N

Is Azmin Ali making his move to finish off Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Nurul Izzah or is this Sodomy 3 looming on the horizon, engineered by Azmin and gang to finish off Anwar Ibrahim instead? Anyway, this letter appears to be an attempt to bring down the entire Anwar clan -- father, mother and daughter. Let us see, however, what develops over the next few hours before we come to any conclusions. Read More @ Source More » Barisan Nasional (BN) | Pakatan Rakyat (PR) | Sociopolitics Plus | 大马社会政治

Malaysian forces suffered no fresh casualties, said Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. LAHAD DATU: Security forces killed 13 terrorists as they expanded their hunt for the armed group today, a day after an assault with fighter jets, mortars and hundreds of troops, according to Reuters. The nearly month-long confrontation was sparked when the armed group of about 200 sailed from the nearby southern Philippines to press an ancient claim to the resource-rich region. At least 40 people have been killed, including eight Malaysian policemen, raising concerns of broader insecurity ahead of the country's general election. "The total is 13. There could be more," Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters at a media centre set up at a palm oil plantation called Felda Sahabat. Zahid, who produced what he described as pictures of some of the dead militants, said Malaysian forces had suffered no fresh casualties since the assault was launched yester

UPDATE 3  Pakatan Rakyat leaders have slammed Prime Minister Najib Razak and his administration for perceived shortcomings over his handling of the Sulu incursions in Lahad Datu, Sabah, urging him to "speak to the people" via Parliamentary channels. "When you speak to the Parliament, you are speaking to the people and there is a need to go to the people in this instance," DAP MP for Bukit Bendera Liew Chin Teong told a press conference on Wednesday. Liew was speaking at a joint press conference with PKR MP for Sungai Petani Johari Abdul and PAS MP for Kuala Selangor Khalid Samad. Keeping silent will only prolong crisis The PR lawmakers want an explanation from Najib over 6 key aspects that have sparked great public concern, especially amongst Sabahans, saying that until the PM was willing to confront the issues, unhealthy and dangerous rumor-mongering would continue to spread. "This (keeping silent) will not help us to get to

Kesian ibu pertiwiku... Negara lain banyak yang dah maju ke depan. Banyak aspek yang dah semakin bertambah baik, bertambah maju dan semakin canggih. Malaysia apa macam..?? Hahahaha.... semakin terkebelakang dan semakin buruk dan teruk. Ada Piem... piem terkutuk. Ada menteri... menteri goblok. Ada kerajaan, kerajaan teruk dan terburuk. Ada pasukan tentera.... guna peralatan cabok, sampaikan nak bawak tentera ke Sabah pon terpaksa guna khidmat penerbangan milik kroni. Carok betoi...!! Dan... ada unversiti.... corot-corot belaka jika dibandingkan dengan universiti negara-negara lain di dunia. Langsung tak termasuk dalam ranking... wa cakap lu. Ciittt....!! Bikin malu betoi!! KUALA LUMPUR : Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak terus menerima tamparan hebat sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU-13) apabila tidak ada universiti dari Malaysia disenarai dalam 400 universiti terbaik dunia yang dikeluarkan Times Higher Education World University Rank

Anwar jelas sebab Tian Chua, Sivarasa ke Manila PETALING JAYA - Naib Presiden PKR, Tian Chua dan bekas Naib Presidennya, Sivarasa Rasiah ke Manila pada 7 Februari lalu semata-mata untuk memperoleh maklumat tentang penipuan membabitkan lebih RM900 juta yang disyaki didalangi anak saudara Ketua Menteri Sabah, kata Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Ketua Umum PKR ini berkata, usaha itu penting bagi memastikan maklumat tersebut tidak mengandungi unsur fitnah dan pihaknya cuba mendapatkan pengesahan daripada Kerajaan Filipina berhubung kes itu. "Mengapa kita harus beri pelindungan, jadi bila kita ketengahkan, maka Siva dan Tian Chua pergi ke Manila untuk mendapat maklumat. "... kita mahu maklumat yang lebih terang dan kita dapat pengesahan tentang percubaan menipu itu," katanya kepada pemberita di ibu pejabat PKR di sini, hari ini. Anwar mengesyaki penahanan Manuel Karingal Amalilio di Sabah dilakukan sebagai cubaan untuk menghalang anak saudara Ketua Ment

Lihat gambar.. Pengganas yang dipercayai terlibat serangan di Lahad Datu yang di berkas memakai baju t-shirt BN tetera gambar Dato Shafie Afdal. . Menurut pihak berkuasa Pengganas ni mempunyai IC Malaysia. kantoi sudah.. Pengganas ni penyokong BN rupernya.. ha..ha..ha.. Saksikan video sebagai bukti .... Petikan dari Malaysiakini [bawah]   Polis: 4 disyaki militan ditahan di Semporna Polis hari ini menahan empat lelaki yang dicurigai terlibat dengan kumpulan militan dalam satu operasi di Jalan Lapangan Terbang dekat pekan Semporna. Namun setakat ini masih belum dapat dipastikan sama ada kumpulan berkenaan mempunyai kaitan dengan kumpulan Tentera Diraja Sulu. Menurut seorang pegawai polis, operasi berkenaan dijalankan oleh satu pasukan ibu pejabat polis kontinjen Sabah selepas menerima maklumat awam. Seorang pegawai yang enggan dinamakan memberitahu wartawan bahawa le

Bernama   Kerajaan negeri Sabah akan memberi sumbangan sebanyak RM100,000 kepada setiap keluarga anggota keselamatan yang terkorban di Lahad Datu dan Semporna.    Ketika mengumumkan perkara itu, Ketua Menteri Datuk Seri Musa Aman berkata kabinet negeri yang membincangkan perkara itu turut bersetuju memberi sumbangan sebanyak RM50,000 kepada anggota keselamatan yang cedera dalam kedua-dua kejadian itu.    "Di samping itu, kerajaan negeri akan mempertimbang pemberian bantuan lain yang sesuai kepada balu dan anak-anak anggota serta pegawai polis terbabit," katanya kepada pemberita selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat mingguan kabinet Sabah di Wisma Innoprise, di Likas hari ini.    Musa berkata kerajaan negeri dan seluruh rakyat Sabah amat menghargai dan menyanjung tinggi jasa serta pengorbanan pasukan keselamatan dalam mempertahan kedaulatan negara.    "Sesungguhnya pengorbanan mereka terhadap negara memang besar maknanya yang tidak dapat dinilai dengan

Pasukan keselamatan telah bergerak memasuki Tanjung Batu yang terletak bersebelahan Kampung Tanduo di mana operasi memburu penceroboh Filipina bermula semalam. Ketua Polis Negara, Ismail Omar berkata, operasi itu kini diperluaskan meliputi Tanjung Batu dan operasi bermula pada jam 3 petang hari ini. "Polis dan angkatan tentera memasuki Tanjung Batu ketika mengesan penceroboh pada sekitar jam 4.15 petang," katanya dalam satu sidang akhbar di Felda Sahabat petang ini. Di sana, tegasnya, berlaku pertempuran dan percaya pasukan keselamatan telah membunuh beberapa orang musuh tetapi tidak dapat mengesahkan bilangannya pada masa ini. Penduduk Tanjung Batu mendakwa kampung mereka telah diambil alih oleh kira-kira 50 penceroboh seawal hari Isnin, menyebabkan mereka lari meninggalkan rumah masing-masing. Dalam perkembangan sama, Panglima Angkatan Tentera, Zulkifeli Mohd Zin menjelaskan bahawa timbunan mayat ditemui dalam satu lahad di Kampung Tanduo adalah korban dalam pertemp