Aquino urges unconditional surrender, Sulu rebels refuse

The Malaysian Insider – 1 hour 33 minutes ago

By Ida Lim

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 – Philippines’ President Benigno Aquino III appealed today to a Sulu rebel group in Sabah to lay down their arms unconditionally, but the followers of the self-proclaimed sultan have refused, saying they would rather die than give up their claim to the Borneo state.

“The just, and indeed, the only correct thing for you to do is to surrender,” Aquino (picture) said in a statement, telling the group that it had chosen the wrong path, news portal The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported this afternoon.

But the self-proclaimed sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III said there was no reason for his followers to surrender in Sabah, which he claimed was their “own home” despite the land being a state in Malaysia for decades.

“All they know how to say is surrender, surrender. Why should we surrender in our own home? They (his followers now in Sabah) are not doing anything bad in their own home,” Jamalul reportedly said in an immediate response to Aquino’s call.

The rebel leader’s daughter, Jacel Kiram also said Aquino’s remarks were “not acceptable”, claiming that the group were never given any options except to “surrender”, while saying there should be negotiations instead of dictation.

Jamalul’s younger brother, the self-styled crown prince Agbimuddin Kiram today said that the group holed up in Kampung Tanduo, a coastal village near Lahad Datu, were ready to die for their cause even after suffering casualties yesterday.

“After we buried our 9 brothers and sister at sundown, everyone of the 224 left decided to die in Lahad Datu in pursuit of their dreams and aspiration,” Agbimuddin wrote in a text message to Jamalul at 5am today, the same news portal reported.

The group’s spokesman Abraham Idjirani responded to Aquino by saying that the armed rebels would stay on in Sabah: “We have spoken: It’s honour over lives.”

Idjirani reportedly said the deaths of their men had only “strengthened” their resolve to “defend the rights of the Filipino people over Sabah.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had earlier today said the Sulu army should surrender or be prepared to face action from the nation’s security forces, indicating that there would be no more negotiations.

“We are firm in this matter because what they have done was a serious criminal act... they trespassed and killed police officers and injured our security forces’ personnel... They have only two choices, give up or receive action from our security forces,” Najib said.

A standoff lasting over two-weeks yesterday culminated in a gunfire exchange between the Malaysian police and the Sulu group, leaving 15 dead and a few men injured.

Newswire Reuters has reported that Malaysia pays a token sum to the Sultanate of Sulu each year in an arrangement that stretches back to British colonial times.

The sultanate has claimed that the payment amounts to rental, but Malaysia has argued that it is instead payment for the sultanate’s ceding of its rights to Sabah.