When a foreign flag is raised on our shores, and ownership claims are made to our soil, what do you think we should do?
The Star Online > Nation
Friday February 15, 2013
CENDERAWASIH (Lahad Datu): A group of close to 100 Filipinos, who are
in a standoff with Malaysian authorities after forcing out villagers
from Kampung Tanduao, is claiming to be the royal armed forces of the
Sulu Sultanate.
They also want to stay put in Sabah and not be deported to the Philippines. The group, armed with an assortment of weapons, is confined within a
tight security ring thrown around it by the Malaysian army, navy and
police.
Its demands for recognition was made during negotiations over the
past 48 hours with emissaries who had asked the group to surrender and
leave the area peacefully.
It is understood that the emissaries have been given a time frame
until noon today to end the standoff but the gunmen are saying they will
only leave the village if their demands are met.
They had also purportedly raised the Philippines flag in the area.Speculation had surfaced about the identity of the gunmen but Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar had announced their identity and demands at a press conference in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.
According to local villagers, one group of gunmen had arrived in
three boats mounted with machine guns and landed in Silabukan while
another landed in Sungei Merah close to Kampung Tanduao last week.The villagers claimed that the gunmen went around demanding for food and water. Police were then notified about the presence of the gunmen.
Some villagers had also claimed that one group of about 30 gunmen
armed with M16 rifles had entered Kampung Tanduao in Felda Sahabat 20
scheme and converged at the home of a man known as Ahmad Bom or Mat
Bomb. The villagers, who declined to give their names for fear of
repercussions, said that most of the gunmen were in military fatigues
while others were in robes when they entered Kampung Tanduao. According to them, Ahmad was arrested by the police in the early
1990s for allegedly attempting to throw a fish bomb at the Felda office
here after failing to settle a land dispute, thus earning him the
nickname. He was also accused of being involved in fish bombing but was never charged.
The villagers claimed that Ahmad's son had gone to Bongoa in southern
Philippines recently to seek help from the armed men to claim back his
family's ancestral land within the Felda Sahabat scheme.
2 comments:
It has been a while mate hasn't it??
This is a testing time for our boys and girls in service. How I wish I could join them!!
However it is in such bad taste that scumbags seem to thrive on milking this episode for political brownie points.
I wish they would take up a gun. Or take up public office. Or just shut up.
Many share your thoughts. Just keep up our morale!
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