Malaysian government issues ultimatum to Filipino Muslim group

(Vatican Radio) Malaysia has rejected a ceasefire proposal by a Philippines-based militant group fighting for control of part of the Sabah province on the island of Borneo. Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday said the Filipino Muslim group must surrender unconditionally or risk being eliminated by Malaysian troops.
The dispute began in mid-February when around 200 members of the armed group stormed a seaside village and demanded to be recognized as the ancestral owners of the eastern Malaysian state, which was once part of the Sultanate of Sulu, which stretched from Borneo to the southern Philippines. At least 27 people have died since the conflict began.
“The people in Sabah, they feel frightened. They feel insecure…and they are worried. Whether they are Christians or they are Muslim, they feel the same way – our land has been attacked,” said Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of Herald, the weekly newspaper of Malaysia.
“We hope that this will be resolved through dialogue, and not through gunfire, and we are praying for that,” he said.
He told Vatican Radio the history of the Sultanate and the various treaties involved are often confusing, and all the parties involved must come to a final resolution.
“Even before the independence of Malaysia, this claim for Sabah as part of the Sulu Sultanate has been raised, and it will [continue to] be raised, so it has to be settled once and for all in an international court of dispute,” he said.
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