In history there are many cases f rebels turning agaisnt their own cause, and this is one, must be one especially after what Mahahtir said aboutthe Muslim connection in this entire episode. If you remember well the movemnt that stole a cacheof Arms from an army depot in perak, he di not want them killed that was the order given by him, even though they had killed two other Malaysians and was that because they were Muslims?
We have seen that streak in him publicly, when our Malaysians reached the summit of Mount Everest, the disappointment showed on his face, it was live on National TV, when he asked who were those wh reached the summit and when told he was disappointed, and did not say more, it was a talking point throughout the country, only that we are a bit too polite and allow such racialists their way. Nazri was right he is bloody racialist and he discriminates even by religion, that is why he did not want Joseph Pairin as Chief Minister of Sabah.
A rebel is a rebel is a rebel, he will turn on on everything that comes his way, he never stops and that is something this government has to learn and I hope is learning before it becomes too late. We have to seriously reexamine our role in Southern Thailand, let the Thais solve their own problems their own way, why are we getting involved? If the Bangkok Times carried a we'll discover that most Thais think we are involved in one way or another supporting the rebels and for what so that they can turn against us tomorrow?
From the Horses Mouth
Today the Manila times reports that Nur Misuari, who founded the Moro National Liberation Front an who benefited out of Malaysia's assistance admitting that his fighters are involved in the Sabah incursion.
This reminds me of our involvement in Thailand, we seem to be looking like shit stirrers by our neighbours, Thais treat us with a lot of suspicion, our concerns for rebels do not sem sincere, it stems from the Mahahtirian attitude of "because they are Muslims," if PAS the PAS government decides to break away from Malaysia and take the Northern states with them will Mahahtir say the same thing? That was something the BN had accused the PAS of trying to do before anyway.
. The Manila Times report below, Mahathir what have you to say.
Breaking News
Muslim rebels involved in Malaysia: MNLF
MANILA: Members of a major Philippine Muslim rebel force who were meant to have disarmed in the 1990s as part of a peace pact are involved in deadly battles in Malaysia, the group's leader said on Tuesday.Nur Misuari, who founded the Moro National Liberation Front in the late 1960s, confirmed "freedom fighters" from his group were part of the militia sent by a self-proclaimed sultan to claim the Malaysian state of Sabah.
"I cannot deny that some of them are known to be MNLF freedom fighters," Misuari told a news conference in Manila, although he insisted he was not personally involved.
"They went there without my knowledge. I have not ordered anyone to join them. It would be very irresponsible for anybody to implicate us."
Misuari made the comments while visiting Jamalul Kiram III, the self-anointed Sultan of Sulu, who sent between 100 and 300 men from the southern Philippines to Sabah on February 12 to press his ownership claim.
Malaysian security forces launched a major offensive on Tuesday to end the standoff, which has so far left at least 27 people dead, although the sultan's men reported that they had survived.
The MNLF "freedom fighters" earnt their battle experience during decades of armed struggle against the Philippine government that cost tens of thousands of lives.
The MNLF had fought for an independent state in the southern Philippines, while also claiming Sabah state as part of their ancestral homeland.
The group signed a peace pact with the Philippine government in 1996 which created a Muslim autonomous region in the south, and set aside the claim over Sabah.
The MNLF peace pact led to a less-compromising splinter group, the Moro Islamic Liberation front, continuing the battle for independence.
The MILF is now close to signing a final peace deal with the government, which ignores the Sabah claim completely and would lead to the MNLF losing political influence in the southern Philippines.
Observers have speculated MNLF members may have helped launch the Malaysia offensive because they feared they were losing power.
However Misuari insisted MNLF leaders were not involved directly in the Malaysia standoff, and even offered to go to Kuala Lumpur to mediate a peaceful solution.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino's spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, said that the Philippine Navy had stopped 70 more people from getting across the sea border to help the militants.
Jakarta Globe
From BBC:
Malaysia soldiers attack armed Filipino clan in Borneo
How do you solve a problem like Sabah?
The Malaya is an Englsih language Daily in the Philippines.Malaya Business News Online -
Nur Misuari warns the Malaysian Government (see para marked in red below)
FORMER Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor and Moro National Liberation Front chairman Nur Misuari yesterday denied reports that he instigated the followers of the Sultanate of Sulu and financed their trip to Sabah to re-stake the sultanate’s claim on the territory.Misuari visited Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in his residence in Maharlika Village, Taguig City to express his support for the sultanate.
Misuari, in a press briefing, said he had nothing to do with the decision of the sultan’s followers led by his brother, Rajah Mudda Agbimuddin Kiram, to go to Sabah where they are engaged in clashes with Malaysian security forces.
“These are all wild speculations. In the first place, I have not inspired anyone since I cannot pre-empt the role of the Sultan. To finance it is out of the question of course,” he added.
Misuari said even if he has the means, there is no reason for him to finance Agbimuddin Kiram and his followers because funding only about 200 men is “not my way of doing things.”
He said if he had been involved, he would have mobilized thousands, like the 4,000-strong MNLF force that he deployed against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and the 5,000 that he sent out at the height of the Sipadan kidnapping crisis in 2001.
“So for anyone to speculate that I have anything to do with this is a kind of madness. It is very irresponsible to implicate me in this. But to say that I am not concerned over their fate is wrong. I have warned the Malaysian government that every drop of their (the Sultan’s men) blood is sacred to us,” he said.
But he said there might be some MNLF members among the sultan’s followers who went to Sabah without his permission.
President Aquino on Monday said a conspiracy was behind the Sabah voyage of Kiram’s followers and vowed to punish those responsible. Earlier reports mentioned Misuari and allies of former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo.
Aquino said Kiram could not have financed it all because he could not even shoulder his own dialysis treatments without help from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. He said sending a boatful of people to Sabah costs about P100,000 and at least two boats were initially sent to Lahud Datu.
Abraham Idjirani, spokesman of Kiram, said his group did not conspire with anyone in the Philippines or with the Malaysian opposition.
“Hindi namin kilala si Anwar Ibrahim (former Malaysian deputy prime minister and opposition leader) at wala kaming pag-uusap sa kanya o sa anu pa mang grupo,” he said.
He said Ibrahim and the United Malay National Organization are both pushing for the strengthening of Malaysia, which includes Sabah.
He said such reports are meant to sully the image of the sultanate which is steadfast in pressing its claim and will continue fighting until the problem is resolved.
In MalacaƱang, presidential adviser Edwin Lacierda asked why former National Security Advise Norberto Gonzales felt alluded to when Aquino said that possible conspirators from the previous administration were being investigated by the Department of Justice in connection with the Sabah standoff.
“Guilty siya? The President never mentioned anybody. He said that ‘I will not name names until I have sufficient evidence.’ Meron ba siyang sinabi? Wala pong sinabi si Pangulong Aquino (na) pangalan, so hindi ko alam kung bakit ang pakiramdam ni Ginoong Gonzales ay siya ang tinutukoy ni Pangulong Aquino. Wala hong pangalang nilabas si Pangulong Aquino,” he said.
Lacierda said investigations are still ongoing and the government would file charges, including against the alleged conspirators, backed with credible evidence “at the proper time.”
‘SIDING WITH THE ENEMY’
Misuari slammed Aquino for “siding
with the enemy of his people,” even as he warned that arresting or
killing Agbimuddin Kiram would result in “total chaos.”He said he called Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and told him that killing the Agbimuddin Kiram would be “tantamount to a declaration of war against our people and the MNLF.”
“It is our sacred duty to protect our people. We have one-and-a-half million people living in different parts of Sabah,” he said.
Misuari said if Aquino has nothing good to say, then “he should not open his mouth anymore.”
“What they have done is very bad. It is very unbecoming of a head of state. Why is he siding with the enemy of his own people? I don’t know who is advising him and for what reason. Why he is allying himself with Malaysia, a colonial power instead of our own people? I am totally against that. I hope the President is properly advised and would recant so we could forgive him,” he said.
Former Tawi-Tawi governor Al Tillah said Aquino’s stand smacked of a “sell-out” not only of the Sultanate of Sulu but also of the entire Filipino people. Tillah also visited Kiram.
He said Aquino should have brought the issue before the international community for arbitration.
Tillah is current chairman of the Islamic Society of the Philippines which was founded by the late Sultan Jamalul Kiram II to advance the welfare of the Muslim community in Mindanao. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
