Guerrilla warfare – militants hitting back?
| March 8, 2013
A Moro National Liberation Front
source is of the view that the war in Sabah will be 'very costly' to the
Malaysian security forces.
LAHAD
DATU: As images of mutilated bodies flood the blogs and rumours of more attacks
spew via SMSes and e-mails, Lahad Datu is appearing more and more like a
guerrilla front.
Malaysia’s rejection yesterday of a
unilateral ceasefire called by self-styled Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and
its determination to wipe out the “remnants” of the militants of the week-long
brutal armed attack simply means that Sabah is in trouble, says a Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) source.
Said the source who declined to be
named: “The Malaysians have opened an insurgency problem in Sabah by firing the
first shot. Sabah is going to be a real headache for the Malaysians.”
The source was alluding to last
Friday’s shoot-out at Kampung Tandauo in Lahad Datu where over 200 armed
soldiers from the Royal Sulu Army have been holed up since Feb 9.
What triggered the shoot-out is
subjective. The Malaysian side claimed the militants broke the security cordon,
but the Sulu sultanate denied this saying they were attacked.
A news blackout on the ongoings in
Lahad Datu and a lack of informed regular updates from the Malaysian
authorities have given wind to widespread rumours, the latest being that a
group of Moro militants bombed a bridge in Sandakan and a truck heading towards
Lahad Datu was attacked.
FMT has been unable to confirm these
information. Neither is there any comment from the Malaysian side.
Thus far, the Malaysian security
forces have declared 52 militants killed, including a general, and eight
Malaysian officers have died.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Najib Tun
Razak told reporters here that a security zone covering Kudat, Kunak, Sandakan
and Lahad Datu has been set up and that there was no scaling back unless the
militants surrender unconditionally and hand over their weapons.
Unconditional
surrender is not a Tausug culture
Meanwhile, the Philstar.com quoted
official MNLF spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla as saying that the sultanate’s
forces would fight till the death.
“Surrender? It’s unacceptable. They
will fight to the death. For the Tausug fighters it’s victory or graveyard,” he
said.
He said the war would be “very
costly” to the Malaysian army which had not fought a real battle like the
sultanate’s forces.
He said many of them had fought the
Philippine government as members of the MNLF.
“They’re used to dealing with jet
fighters as well as ground and naval bombardments.
“They know the terrain in Sabah,
having trained there for decades,” he said.
Militants refusing to
surrender
Inspector-General
of Police Ismail Omar in a press conference here this morning said the Sulu
militants were not showing signs of surrendering.
He also denied reports that 700 Sulu
gunmen had entered Sabah.
“I received information that there
are SMS and social media postings which falsely claim that these gunmen have
entered Kota Kinabalu and Tawau to create chaos,” he said.
“It is not true. Do not believe in
reports which are not confirmed by the police and military. Please inform the
police if you see any information via social media or text messages,” he added.
Stop meddling in Sabah, PKR tells Najib
| March 8, 2013
PKR doesn’t want a repeat of Najib’s
mistakes at the early stages of the armed incursion, which left eight Malaysian
security personnel killed.
KUALA
LUMPUR: All security operations in Sabah should be handed over completely
to the Malaysian armed forces and police personnel, without interference from
politicians, PKR demanded today.
PKR strategy director Rafisi Ramli
said this was because prime minister Najib Tun Razak had admitted his
administration only began taking action when eight Malaysian security personnel
were killed in attacks by the self-styled Royal Sulu Sultan’s army.
“[Najib’s] statement was aired
yesterday (March 7 2013) on Buletin Utama , TV3. He clearly confessed to taking
military action only after our security forces were killed,” said Rafizi at a
press conference at the PKR headquarters here.
“Because of that, PKR feels that it
is right for the whole security operations in Sabah to be given to the
Malaysian armed forces and police without intervention from political leaders.”
He said this would ensure there
would be no repeat of mistakes made in decision-making which could cost the
lives of more security personnel in Sabah.
“In any crisis, by right, military
action should be first on the card. It shouldn’t be an afterthought, or hastily
begun after certain casualties had taken place,” said Rafizi.
He pointed out that if the mandate
had been given to the armed forces since the beginning, they could have decided
on the best course of action to take to safeguard the territory and lives of
servicemen.
Instead, the government had attempted
to peacefully negotiate with the armed sulu intruders since Feb 9. This was
despite the fact that the army had made it clear they intended to take Sabah by
force.
The weeks of negotiations culminated
in a bloody clash last Friday, which left two Malaysian security personnel
killed and 12 of the intruders dead.
Another six Malaysians died during
an ambush the following day. Meanwhile, 52 Sulu gunmen have been killed as of
press time.
Najib jeapordising
country’s sovereignty
Rafizi was also concerned by Najib’s
alleged decision not to take action against the armed insurgents should
they agree to leave Sabah unarmed.
This was according to a report by
Filipino newspaper the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which quoted Filipino Cabinet
Secretary Rene Almendras on the matter.
“The report quotes Secretary
Almedras confessing that the Najib administration has agreed not to take
any action against the Sulu intruders on the condition that they must leave
their weapons behind or hide their weapons and leave Sabah,” said Rafizi.
He said such an offer would leave
the world with the impression that Malaysia was willing to make deals with
armed intruders.
“This would invite more armed
incursions into the country in the future, once the intruders sneak in and take
back their weapons,” Rafizi pointed out.
“Even more worrying, the report
states that Najib agreed to reopen talks over the Sulu intruder’s claims over
Sabah,” he added.
He said that Najib’s two decisions,
if true, could jeapordise the country’s sovereignty.
“It is not Najib’s right to decide
to negotiate Sabah’s standing in Malaysia and the claim made by the intruders.
“That is the right of the people and
his responsibility, as prime minister, is to protect the country’s sovereignty
firmly, especially in a case involving a clear-cut intrusion such as this one,”
stressed Rafizi.
He said these developments reflected
Najib’s chaotic reactions and responses towards the armed incursion.
“As the prime minister, he has no
choice but to respond to these issues in a special sitting of Parliament over
the Sabah intrusion. If he continues to avoid this, the rakyat will continue to
question why this crisis was not managed more quickly and effectively,” warned
Rafizi.
Dr M targets emergency rule?
| March 8, 2013
Having established a legacy of fame
and fortune, Dr Mahathir Mohamad is not going to stand aside and watch his work
destroyed.
COMMENT
Dr
Mahathir Mohamad is a worried man facing a mother-of-all-elections that
“threatens” his 22-years of national development legacy, an extensive personal
and commercial network and his personal wealth speculated to run into billions.
He is not going to take any chances.
In the aftermath of the 12th general
election in 2008, Mahathir established an organisation called Perkasa whose
existence is to launch the brinkmanship tactic with or without the approval of
the powers-that-be.
He does not have the confidence that
his successor-by-appointment Najib Tun Razak can execute radical measures to
contain the rise of Anwar Ibrahim-led Pakatan Rakyat.
Therefore he has chosen to partner
with Muhyiddin Yassin (Deputy Prime Minister). Together they are scheming to
take on Najib before the general election. The duo will go to any and all
lengths to plan radical strategies to beat the opposition using all available
avenues.
Should Muhyiddin fail to dislodge
Najib as prime minister and the latter refusing to take his orders, then
Mahathir will go it alone.
With Perkasa as his running dog he
believes he can still unleash a lethal force against the opposition. Already,
Perkasa has issued warning signals to the opposition and the other races to toe
the line.
These people are capable of
triggering disturbances in the country compelling Najib to declare a state of
emergency. As this strategy serves Najib’s agenda, too, he will take it from
there.
Do or die battle
Mahathir fears his own safety and
the threats to his family business empire.
With these fears egging him,
Mahathir will take the general election as his personal war with Pakatan,
thereby forcing Najib to step aside. It will be a do or die battle for him.
Should Najib quit, then Mahathir has
three arsenals at his disposal.
Muhyiddin as his front man would
then forge a reciprocal arrangement with one of the major partners in Pakatan.
In the event of a neck-and-neck contest,
any minor changes towards the finishing line may have profound consequences on
the contesting teams, favourable or otherwise.
With money at his disposal, Mahathir
can execute his vote-buying tactic before the GE and candidate-buying tactic
before and after the GE to ensure victory for Umno-BN.
If these tactics don’t work, then
Mahathir will turn to Perkasa.
Being Mahathir’s brainchild, it will
take orders from him. It is believed that Perkasa’s members are ready to
trigger chaos in specific parts of the country and blame it on the opposition.
However, the disturbances will be a
controlled and superficial one as he won’t want to jeopardise the financial
market and scare investors away.
Aiming for emergency
rule?
Mahathir then will instruct frontman
(either Najib of Muhyiddin, depending) to declare a state of emergency to
arrest and prosecute the opposition leaders for good.
Election and Parliament will be
suspended and the country will then be put under the control of a National
Operations Council.
Mahathir will then turn his
attention to confront the might of people’s power using the full force of the
police and army.
If he dares to do this, chaos and
anarchy may set in.
But will the police and army act on
Muhyiddin’s order? Mahathir is also constantly underestimating the full force
of people’s power. If the people rise, then the whole nation could be
paralysed.
The nation as such cannot be
sacrificed to save one man, who isn’t worth an honest penny.
Awang Abdillah is a political
analyst, writer and FMT columnist.
‘There was no Sabah referendum’
| March 8, 2013
Any talks between Malaysia and the
Philippines must include Sabah because only the people of Sabah can decide what
they want, says Jeffrey Kitingan.
KOTA
KINABALU: United Borneo Front (UBF) chairman Jeffrey Kitingan has disputed the
context of the 1962 referendum which academics and Prime Minister Najib Tun
Razak claim confirmed Sabahans’ desire to be part of Malaysia.
“There has never been a referendum
on Sabah as stated by some academics.
“In fact, the so-called referendum
in 1962-63 was actually only a sampling survey of less than four percent of the
Sabah population,” he said in response to Najib’s comments on Sabah yesterday.
Najib said there was no question of
Sabah not being within Malaysia.
Said Najib: “On the question of
polemics of whether Sabah is a part of Malaysia, I want to stress that the
issue had been finalised in 1978 and Sabah is a valid region in Malaysia,” he
said.
He said the Cobbold Commission had
held a referendum and two-thirds of the people in Sabah agreed to the state
being a part of Malaysia. The commission also obtained the recognition of the
United Nations.
(The Cobbold Commission was set up
to find out whether the people of Sabah and Sarawak were agreeable to the
proposal to create Malaysia, made up of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak.)
But Jeffrey, who also heads the
Sabah chapter of the State Reform Party (STAR), said the Malaysia Agreement
which incorporated terms of the Cobbold Commission “is yet to be implemented”.
“Najib must realise that Sabah
belongs to the people of Sabah.
“Malaysia does not own Sabah as the
Malaysia Agreement is yet to be implemented. Sabah is not a piece of lifeless
property to be fought over between the Philippines [Sulu claim] and Malaya.
“Therefore, any talks between Malaysia/Malaya
and the Philippines must include Sabah because only the people of Sabah can
decide what they want.
“The [Sulu's] Sabah claim, whether
valid or not, must be resolved once and fo all by bringing all the relevant
parties to the table within the ambitof Britain and the United Nations and find
a peaceful solution,” he said.
PMs have failed Sabah
He added that “the time has come to
review the implementation of the Malaysia Agreement and ensure its viability
and survival by addressing the unhappiness of the other remaining partners –
Sabah and Sarawak”.
Jeffrey also pointed out that it was
vital that the federal government clean up the mess created by (former prime
minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno in Sabah which had put Sabah and its
citizens at perpetual risk.
“They made Sabah insecure by
supporting Muslim rebellion in the Philippines and supplying them weapons,
giving them refuge and training facilities in Sabah and, worst still, by
deploying them as voters in Sabah through the ‘Project IC Mahathir’, despite
knowing full well that the same group of people from the Philippines have
unsettled claims over Sabah.
“To restore confidence, the federal
government must clean up the mess. Umno should leave Sabah politics to Sabahans
and local political parties.”
Jeffrey said the Sulu invasion was
proof that Malaysia and successive prime ministers, including Najib, had failed
miserably to secure the safety and security of Sabahans.
“Now that the fear felt by Sabahans
has become a reality, Najib, as the current premier, must not only guarantee
the security of Sabahans but he must also restore their confidence because
security was the number one reason why Sabahans agreed to be part of Malaysia
in 1963,” said Jeffrey.
He said Najib “has a moral duty to
put things right” in Sabah.
“That is why we Sabahans supported
the RCI [Royal Commission of Inquiry] as part of a necessary action to put
things right.
“But that is not enough. A lot more
needs to be done to regain the confidence of the people of Sabah who feel
cheated by the federal government,” Jeffrey said.
Tian Chua becomes Najib’s fall guy
| March 8, 2013
No one is dishonouring the memory of
the brave men who died defending Sabahans from invaders, but our leaders appear
to be largely responsible for the debacle.
COMMENT
Many
lives might have been saved if Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had apprehended
the armed Suluks in Lahad Datu, with the same speed as taking legal action
against the vice-president of PKR, Tian Chua.
On March 1, Tian Chua allegedly
defamed Umno in an article on KeadilanDaily.com, entitled, “Shooting Incident
in Lahad Datu Umno’s Planned Conspiracy — Tian”. Four days later, on March 5,
Najib instructed Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to take
legal action against Tian Chua for linking Umno to the armed intrusion in Lahad
Datu.
Tengku Adnan said, “This is because
the accusation is baseless and very serious with the evil intention of damaging
Umno’s image, reputation and credibility.”
Malaysians are already aware of
Umno’s tarnished image, its terrible reputation and questionable credibility.
Will Umno go after every individual who speaks ill of the party?
No one is dishonouring the memory of
the brave men who died defending Sabahans from invaders, but our leaders appear
to be largely responsible for the debacle.
It is common knowledge that our
shores and borders are porous, but the government appears to have no remedy.
In the past weeks, illegal immigrants
who are accustomed to living and working without hindrance throughout Malaysia
are exercising more caution. In Sabah, they are staying away from their usual
stalls and the corners where they normally trade. This security crisis has
forced the police and immigration staff to be more conscientious in the
checking of Identity Cards and other identification papers – in the past, they
were very lax.
Marine patrols were increased
following the kidnap of two Malaysians last November. It is a fact that there
are several layers of intelligence and security surveillance, so how could more
than 100 armed and uniformed militants enter Lahad Datu unchallenged? The
apparent lapse in security lends credence to a conspiracy theory.
The timing
Another factor which goes against
Umno is the timing. The breach in security happened in the critical days before
the announcement of GE-13. Najib’s popularity has dropped recently and it is
widely believed that his intelligence services have predicted a crushing defeat
for Umno.
A declaration of emergency rule
would suspend elections and in that period, some political pundits claim that
Najib would initiate all measures, both legal and illegal, to ensure a win.
Can anyone blame the talk of an Umno
drama? Even the Election Commission (EC) chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof has
warned of a postponement of elections in selected areas.
Details of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s
“Project M” were disclosed in the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), and
confirmed the suspicions of many Malaysians. Sabahans began to look on each
other with fear, apprehension and mistrust.
Mahathir’s admission is tantamount
to treason, but no Umno leader has censured him. Tian Chua may have been guilty
of insensitivity, but Sabah’s predicament was caused by one power-hungry,
crazed former PM, Mahathir, who gave the nation away.
Najib ordered a probe into Anwar
Ibrahim’s alleged links with this incursion. He is trying to discredit the
opposition, so why is Tian Chua being sued for defamation?
Mahathir caused outrage when he
intimated that the slow response of the armed forces was because Muslim
militants were involved and Muslim blood should not be spilt.
When news of 100 armed and uniformed
men first broke, Malaysians feared the worst, but Najib continued his electioneering
in peninsular Malaysia. Najib preferred to play politics and disregard the
escalating hostilities.
Najib erred but did not dare admit
his guilt and apologise for taking weeks to act. He and his ministers travel
with security cordons; their homes are well guarded. They have no sense of
urgency and are totally disconnected from the man on the street.
Najib ordered a news blackout and
journalists were prevented from entering the area. So we sourced the papers in
Manila for details about the incursion. Why should Najib blame people for
incriminating Umno? Najib is to be blamed for hiding the truth.
To this day, we are not privy to the
demands of the Suluk militants. There have been allegations that Najib had
promised the militants land for resettlement. When he allegedly reneged on his
deal, Lahad Datu was invaded. It is ironical that Najib was on a BN propaganda
drive in Perlis promoting another “Janji-ditepati” stunt, whilst in Sabah, the
Suluks invaded because Najib allegedly broke his “janji” to them.
Horrible truth
In the end, the RMAF’s weapons were
unleashed on the hide-out. These well-armed, trained and disciplined militants
are adept at guerilla warfare and disappeared into the undergrowth, much like
the Vietcong in the Vietnam war. At the end of the firestorm, around 50 bodies
were recovered. Some people have expressed scepticism about the captured
militants who were paraded for the press.
One person said, “The detainees wore
gleaming white shirts with no marks or tears. One even wore a BN shirt. The men
did not show any signs of being holed up for four weeks. They did not appear to
be disheveled, unkempt or even battle weary. They do not fit the picture of
seasoned mercenaries.”
Another observer said, “The Tourism
Minister Ng Yen Yen did not deter tourists from Sabah and claimed that the
Sabah Tourist Board was getting 12 hourly updates. What about relaying this
news to the rakyat? Many of us have family and friends in that part of the
world. Yen-Yen’s announcement goes against the British Foreign and Commonwealth
Office warning to stay away from the east coast of Sabah, unless for essential
travel.”
Najib has only himself to blame for
making people believe that Umno is linked to this incursion. He ordered a news
black-out. His ministers were slow to act. Tony Blair took his country into the
Gulf War on the strength of a lie – Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass
destruction.
The militants’ presence was revealed
a month ago but Najib did not see fit to boost troop and police morale, or more
importantly, reassure the Sabahans with a visit. One political observer has
alleged that Najib thought a visit was not necessary because it was a put-up
job that he arranged.
Najib did not think the matter was
of sufficient moment to discuss in parliament. It was only after hell was
unleashed on the Felda settlements, and seven battalions dropped into the area,
that Najib came for a photo-opportunity with the soldiers.
Najib would like to think that the
image of a conquering hero is enough to boost support for BN in GE-13.
His optimism is premature because
when the smell of propellant has gone, he would still have to answer some
simple questions: Who did not take care of national security? Who allowed
illegal immigrants in? Who distributed MyKads and citizenships as freely as
BR1M handouts? Whose prevarication cost the lives of many security personnel?
There is much about this incursion
that Umno has hidden from public scrutiny but the horrible truth would
eventually emerge, no matter how hard Najib may strive to hide it.
Mariam Mokhtar is a FMT columnist.
