Now, 'Sulu Sultan' wants talks with Malaysia
Neutral country 'Singapore' eyed for talks
While waiting for Malaysia's change of heart in agreeing to a unilateral ceasefire, Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III is hoping for negotiations on how to resolve the Sabah crisis.
“If there is a chance (that) we can talk to them, if they are willing to talk to me, I said my door is always open,” Kiram told Yahoo! Southeast Asia in an exclusive interview.
For the sultanate of Sulu’s patriarch, reviving talks about their proprietary rights over Sabah will not render the murder of Kiram’s followers in vain.
But Kiram is not easy in giving the Malaysian government a chance to get a hold of him. The 74-year old ailing Muslim leader expressed no intention of going to the Philippine neighbor.
“My door is open anytime but for me to go down to Malaysia? No. Perhaps somewhere in a neutral country near Malaysia. Maybe Singapore, Brunei, or Hong Kong,” Kiram said.
Kiram also vowed to exhaust all peaceful means to make the Malaysian government understand why his people want to stay Lahud Datu in Sabah since February 9.
Malaysia "payments" and more evidence
Showing a laptop bag full of documents, Kiram maintained that Malaysia has been paying “customary payment of cession money” to the heirs of sultanate of Sulu as early as 1964.
He insists that his family’s collection of “annual rental receipts” for the years 1964, 1965, 1967, 1978, 1993, and 2002 among others proves that Malaysia acknowledges them as real heirs to Sulu sultanate.
Kiram also showed copies of Standard Chartered cheques as proof that the Embassy of Malaysia in the Philippines has been acknowledging the payments concerning Sabah in 1993 and 2002.
The sultan also showed a published article from former Consul General of Malaysia, Abdullah Sani Omar, who pointed out “historical facts” behind such compensation.
In the date-less ‘Letter to the Editor’ for the Office of Datu Raja Muda, the Malaysian diplomat even defended the payments in favor of the Kirams.
“I would like to refer the Macaskie judgment of 18 December 1939 in the High Court of Borneo which confirmed the proprietary rights of the descendants (of Sulu sultanate),” the letter stated.
“The Malaysian Government as successor government to the British has to this day honored the Macaskie judgment,” it noted.
The document is opposing the statement of Malaysia Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, who said the payment of about P70,000 a year is not for rental but a mere fulfillment of a contract.
The sultanate of Sulu believes that Sabah is part of their ancestral land after receiving that portion of North Borneo as a token of gratitude for helping the Sultanate of Brunei quell a rebellion in 1704.
Former Senator Jovita Salonga Salonga claimed that an Austrian adventurer Baron de Overbeck offered to rent Sabah for RM5,000 from Sulu, which was dealing with armed struggle against Spaniards in 1878.
He noted Overbeck turned all his leasing rights to English merchant Alfred Dent, who established British North Borneo Company that eventually became Sabah’s administrator.
When Dent’s company received Royal Charter in 1881, Salonga explained the British Government clarified that 'sovereignty remains with the Sultan of Sulu' and that the Company was merely an administering authority."
But in 1946, the British Crown asserted full sovereign rights over North Borneo as soon as the British North Borneo Company transferred all its rights and obligations to the British government.
In 1957, Filipino Muslims urged President Ramon Magsaysay to ask the British, which had annexed North Borneo as a crown colony, for the return of Sabah to the Philippines.
READ: Malaysian cops mutilated
READ: Timeline of Sabah crisis
In the 1960s, the Macapagal and Marcos administrations took on the challenge to claim Sabah on behalf of Filipino Muslims until the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos unofficially abandoned it in 1977.
In 1987, former President Corazon Aquino tried to unite descendents to Sulu sultanate when Malaysian government expressed willingness to negotiate on Sabah until Kiram dissented.
Laws have since been amended supposedly to satisfy Malaysia's demands to remove Sabah from the Philippines' national territory like the amendment of 1973 Constitution to 1987 Constitution.
The removal of a phrase under the national territory provision in the 1987 Constitution states that the Philippines has no jurisdiction over Sabah.
The Archipelagic Baselines of the Philippines Law (Republic Act 9522 also hoped to amend an earlier baseline law, R.A. 5446.
The Philippine Supreme Court in a 2011 decision, however, said the R.A. 9522 did not repeal R.A. 5466 and that the Philippine claim over Sabah can therefore be pursued
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/now---sulu-sultan--wants-talks-with-malaysia-083243746.html
Neutral country 'Singapore' eyed for talks
While waiting for Malaysia's change of heart in agreeing to a unilateral ceasefire, Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III is hoping for negotiations on how to resolve the Sabah crisis.
“If there is a chance (that) we can talk to them, if they are willing to talk to me, I said my door is always open,” Kiram told Yahoo! Southeast Asia in an exclusive interview.
For the sultanate of Sulu’s patriarch, reviving talks about their proprietary rights over Sabah will not render the murder of Kiram’s followers in vain.
But Kiram is not easy in giving the Malaysian government a chance to get a hold of him. The 74-year old ailing Muslim leader expressed no intention of going to the Philippine neighbor.
“My door is open anytime but for me to go down to Malaysia? No. Perhaps somewhere in a neutral country near Malaysia. Maybe Singapore, Brunei, or Hong Kong,” Kiram said.
Kiram also vowed to exhaust all peaceful means to make the Malaysian government understand why his people want to stay Lahud Datu in Sabah since February 9.
Malaysia "payments" and more evidence
Showing a laptop bag full of documents, Kiram maintained that Malaysia has been paying “customary payment of cession money” to the heirs of sultanate of Sulu as early as 1964.
He insists that his family’s collection of “annual rental receipts” for the years 1964, 1965, 1967, 1978, 1993, and 2002 among others proves that Malaysia acknowledges them as real heirs to Sulu sultanate.
Kiram also showed copies of Standard Chartered cheques as proof that the Embassy of Malaysia in the Philippines has been acknowledging the payments concerning Sabah in 1993 and 2002.
The sultan also showed a published article from former Consul General of Malaysia, Abdullah Sani Omar, who pointed out “historical facts” behind such compensation.
In the date-less ‘Letter to the Editor’ for the Office of Datu Raja Muda, the Malaysian diplomat even defended the payments in favor of the Kirams.
“I would like to refer the Macaskie judgment of 18 December 1939 in the High Court of Borneo which confirmed the proprietary rights of the descendants (of Sulu sultanate),” the letter stated.
“The Malaysian Government as successor government to the British has to this day honored the Macaskie judgment,” it noted.
The document is opposing the statement of Malaysia Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, who said the payment of about P70,000 a year is not for rental but a mere fulfillment of a contract.
The sultanate of Sulu believes that Sabah is part of their ancestral land after receiving that portion of North Borneo as a token of gratitude for helping the Sultanate of Brunei quell a rebellion in 1704.
Former Senator Jovita Salonga Salonga claimed that an Austrian adventurer Baron de Overbeck offered to rent Sabah for RM5,000 from Sulu, which was dealing with armed struggle against Spaniards in 1878.
He noted Overbeck turned all his leasing rights to English merchant Alfred Dent, who established British North Borneo Company that eventually became Sabah’s administrator.
When Dent’s company received Royal Charter in 1881, Salonga explained the British Government clarified that 'sovereignty remains with the Sultan of Sulu' and that the Company was merely an administering authority."
But in 1946, the British Crown asserted full sovereign rights over North Borneo as soon as the British North Borneo Company transferred all its rights and obligations to the British government.
In 1957, Filipino Muslims urged President Ramon Magsaysay to ask the British, which had annexed North Borneo as a crown colony, for the return of Sabah to the Philippines.
READ: Malaysian cops mutilated
READ: Timeline of Sabah crisis
In the 1960s, the Macapagal and Marcos administrations took on the challenge to claim Sabah on behalf of Filipino Muslims until the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos unofficially abandoned it in 1977.
In 1987, former President Corazon Aquino tried to unite descendents to Sulu sultanate when Malaysian government expressed willingness to negotiate on Sabah until Kiram dissented.
Laws have since been amended supposedly to satisfy Malaysia's demands to remove Sabah from the Philippines' national territory like the amendment of 1973 Constitution to 1987 Constitution.
The removal of a phrase under the national territory provision in the 1987 Constitution states that the Philippines has no jurisdiction over Sabah.
The Archipelagic Baselines of the Philippines Law (Republic Act 9522 also hoped to amend an earlier baseline law, R.A. 5446.
The Philippine Supreme Court in a 2011 decision, however, said the R.A. 9522 did not repeal R.A. 5466 and that the Philippine claim over Sabah can therefore be pursued
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/now---sulu-sultan--wants-talks-with-malaysia-083243746.html
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