How are ‘armed foreign bandits’ behind Lahad Datu invasion not terrorists? MCA veep asks Tian Chua
(Malay Mail Onine) – MCA vice-president Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun today questioned PKR’s defence of the Kiram family, saying that the invasion of Lahad Datu by the late Sulu “sultan” Jamalul Kiram III in 2013 was a clear terrorist act perpetrated by “armed foreign bandits.”
In a statement, Chew pointed out that the Kiram clan has yet to drop their claims on Sabah or offer any form of compensation for the families of Malaysians killed during the invasion.
“If armed foreign bandits encroaching into our sovereign soil by the manifolds in separate locations miles apart, demanding that Sabah be seceded to an unrecognised Sulu ‘sultanate’, whereby our federal government’s peaceful negotiations to them to depart without further skirmishes prior to their ambushing, eviscerating and murdering our security forces, are not considered terrorism, then we certainly do not know how else terrorism may even be categorised,” she said in a statement.
PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang said yesterday it was unfair to immediately link the Kiram family to a “revenge” attack allegedly planned against Sabah, and that Putrajaya must ascertain which group in the Philippines’ restive south is reportedly planning an assault on Sabah.
“On what grounds does PKR Batu MP Tian Chua hold to declare that the Kiram clan ‘are not terrorists’ but ‘are part of the Filipino government There is no justification whatsoever.
“PKR should focus on fixing problems ailing its already divided party rather than tarnishing Malaysia abroad or further slapping kidnap and murder-victims of terrorism to distract attention from its own internal conflicts,” Chew added.
Over the weekend, deputy home minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed reportedly said that Sulu forces in southern Philippines are planning another attack on Sabah in revenge after a failed bid in 2013 to claim ownership of the east Malaysian state.
The Sulu “sultanate” in southern Philippines led by the late Jamalul organised a group of over 200 gunmen who launched an invasion on the peaceful Lahad Datu coastal township in Sabah in 2013.
The invasion, which was the sultanate’s attempt to stake its claim over Sabah, later led to a bloody standoff between local security forces and the Sulu group, resulting in 10 Malaysian personnel dead.
