Philippines calls for peaceful solution to Borneo stand-off
16 February AFP
The Philippines on Saturday called for a peaceful resolution to a
tense stand-off between Malaysian forces and a group of gunmen claiming
to be followers of the heir of a former Borneo sultan.
The group, estimated at 200 with dozens believed to be armed, landed
by boat near the Borneo town of Lahad Datu in Malaysia's Sabah state
from the neighbouring Philippines on Tuesday.
Police say the group has declared itself followers of a former
Philippine-based Islamic sultanate that once controlled parts of Borneo,
including the standoff site, and is refusing to leave Malaysian
territory.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino's spokeswoman Abigail Valte said
Saturday the safety of the Filipinos was the government's main concern
as Malaysian armed forces and police have locked down the area.
“The primary concern now is their safety and to resolve the incident
peacefully,” Valte said in a radio interview in Manila.
She said the Philippines had received assurance from Malaysia that
the government would encourage the group, which Manila has yet to
identify, to leave the area peacefully.
Sabah police chief Hamza Taib was quoted by local dailies as saying
police were in negotiations with the group and expected the stand-off to
be resolved “very soon with the group returning to their home country”.
Malaysian police have set up a series of road blocks along the route
leading from Lahad Datu through palm oil plantations to the remote
village where the gunmen are. Marine police were also patrolling the
sea. An AFP photographer was denied access some 20 kilometres (12 miles)
from the stand-off site. The group involved in the impasse has claimed
to be adherents of the former Sulu sultanate, a regional power centre
until its demise a century ago.
A Philippine military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
told AFP Friday the group was demanding an increase in the nominal
amount Malaysia pays, under a long-standing agreement, to the heirs of
the sultanate for possession of Sabah.
Sabah has a history of incursions by armed Philippine groups, and the
prickly situation could test ties between the neighbours, who are fellow
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In the worst incident, guerrillas of the Islamic militant Abu Sayyaf
movement seized 21 mostly Western tourists at the Sabah scuba diving
resort of Sipadan in 2000. They were taken to Philippine islands and
later ransomed.
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