By :
NILE BOWIE
MALAYSIA
has been in the midst of an ongoing security crisis since early February, when
a group of 235 rag-tag militiamen from the neighboring southern Philippines
slipped into the eastern state of Sabah and began occupying several villages.
While
engaging police in several firefights, the insurgents beheaded and mutilated
several captured Malaysian security personnel, prompting Malaysian forces to
deploy fighter jets in an unprecedented air assault over the area in an
operation to flush out the intruders.
The
gunmen call themselves the “Royal Army of the Sulu Sultanate”, representing the
heirs of a long-defunct kingdom which once controlled the territory up until
the late nineteenth century.
The
so-called Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, who is believed to be directing
the militant incursion from Manila, insists that Sabah is rightfully part of
his kingdom and has vowed not budge on his claims even if his personnel are killed
in the standoff.
Malaysians,
who are preparing to vote in a pivotal general election just around the corner,
have been fixated on events in Sabah as they unfold. The Philippines are soon
expecting congressional elections as well, and given the timing, local analysts
are wondering how exactly did this elderly self-proclaimed Sultan obtained the
resources needed to establish his own private army.
Both
the Malaysian and Philippine governments have launched official investigations
into allegations that figures within Malaysia’s political opposition had a hand
in aiding the Sulu gunmen. Reuters cited an anonymous Filipino military officer
who claimed that Sulu rebels were “invited to Sabah by a Malaysian opposition
politician”.
The
blame has been laid on Malaysia’s de-facto opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim,
who Malaysian reports say has links to Filipino insurgent networks that have
long eyed the resource-rich state of Sabah in northern eastern Borneo.
Local
journalist Adrian Lai recently unearthed classified diplomatic cables from the
US embassy in Manila brought to light by WikiLeaks, which document ties between
Nur Misauri, former chairmen of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and
Malaysia’s main opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The
MNLF is a political movement that pitted itself against predominately Christian
Manila by seeking political autonomy for Muslim majority provinces in the
islands in the southern Philippines.
In
2001, Manila accused Misauri of terrorism when he led an MNLF unit that
attacked an outpost of the Philippine army, prompting him to seek refuge in
Sabah on the assumption that authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia would
empathize with him and block his extradition. Misauri was detained by Malaysian
security forces in Sabah and sent back to the Philippines where he was jailed
until 2008.
WikiLeaks
cables claim that Misauri detested the Malaysian government for turning him
over to Philippine authorities and that he was “a strong advocate for the
recovery of Sabah”.
The
cables claim that Misauri boasted that his militias could invade Sabah in the
span of two hours. WikiLeaks has also confirmed that Misauri maintained close
connections to Anwar Ibrahim, and that the two had met on several occasions.
A
separate report issued by AFP cited US diplomatic cables that implicate a Saudi
Arabian ambassador to the Philippines of funding Muslim groups seeking autonomy
in the southern islands. Misauri recently criticized Philippine President
Benigno Aquino for siding with Malaysia in his firm stance against the Sulu
militants, warning the Aquino government of chaos if Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram
III is apprehended.
Anwar
Ibrahim, who has vehemently denied all accusations, has long been considered a
darling of the West. Mr. Ibrahim is a slippery character of sorts; he was once
Malaysia’s deputy prime minister prior to being sacked for getting too close to
the IMF, among other things. Anwar also has friends in high places, from
billionaire financier George Soros to senior neo-cons from the Bush
administration.
In
recent times, Ibrahim has appealed to Carl Gershman, president of the
US-Government funded foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED),
requesting that he send a US observer team to Malaysia to monitor the upcoming
elections. Ibrahim enraged many when he stated he would support policy to
protect the security of Israel, and while his political party has long received
training and backing from the International Republican Institute (IRI) chaired
by Republican Senator John McCain, there little doubt that Anwar – a creature
of Washington’s taxpayer funded “Democracy Promotion” overseas – would be the
trusted ally that the White House is looking for as it refocuses its military
muscle and political influence to the Asia-Pacific region.
Philippine
President Benigno Aquino has recently conceded that events in Sabah showed
signs of a conspiracy. A recent statement issued by Malaysian
political-scientist Dr. Chandra Muzaffar alludes to reports of Malaysian
opposition figures promising land, titles and other sinecures to the Sulu
Sultanate if they emerged victorious in the upcoming elections.
Muzaffar
argues that a security crisis in Sabah, regarded as a political stronghold for
the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, could weaken the ruling parties hold over
the state, leading to a hung parliament or a narrow victory for the BN,
prompting in his words, “massive street agitation which could pave the way for
a regime change, which is the goal of not only the Opposition but also its
foreign backers.” When Chandra talks of “foreign backers”, he is referring to
the US political establishment.
The
MNLF, under its current chairmen Muslimin Sema, has issued statements declaring
that it disagreed with the incursion into Sabah, but acknowledged that MNLF
forces aligned to Misauri were present there. Reports issued by Reuters also
cited Malaysian officials who claimed that the Sulu terrorists had links to
factions that were unhappy with the Philippines' recent peace agreement with
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an Islamist MNLF offshoot.
The
Malaysian government facilitated these peace talks, and Misauri made no secret
that he publically opposed them. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that
some ten thousand MNLF fighters from the southern Philippines planned to join
the insurgency in Sabah in solidarity with the Royal Sulu Army.
Sulu
Sultan Jamalul Kiram III has told media in the Philippines that he wants the
United Nations, the United States and the United Kingdom to intervene in his
claim over Sabah.
The
Sultan claims that the US must intercede, as agreed upon in a 1915 agreement
signed with Washington’s then-colonial government in the Philippines that
mandated the US provide “full protection” to the Sulu Sultan in exchange for
exercising sovereignty over the kingdom as the colonial administration.
Let’s
not forget, the strategically located state of Sabah is abundant in natural gas
reserves, and its oil reserves are the third highest in the Asia-Pacific region
after China and India. Sabah’s fifteen oil wells produce as many as 192,000
barrels a day, while the country has holds over 4 billion barrels of proven oil
reserves. In 2010, Malaysia was the world’s third largest exporter of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) after Qatar and Indonesia.
The
Malaysian government had paid a modest annual cession payment to the Sultanate
(which the Sultan argues is a “rent”) since gaining independence from Britain,
and one of the motivations for the Sultan’s push to reclaim the territory is
definitely profit-driven.
While
the Pentagon refocuses over 60% of its naval presence to the Asia Pacific
region, conflicts of this nature – which deal with obstructions to the flow of
abundant energy resources to US companies – are exactly the sort that could
coax the eventual involvement of US personnel if Sabah were to deteriorate into
a hotbed of Sulu-terror.
The
fact that individuals in the highest levels of the Malaysian and Philippine
governments are suspicious of a conspiracy does much to lend credence to the
possibility.
Former
Malaysian PM Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, an ardent critic of Israel and US
imperialism, warned months prior to the standoff in Sabah that the opposition’s
Western backers sought to bring Anwar Ibrahim to power through Arab Spring-style
street riots and even the use of fire power, citing recent examples in Egypt
and Syria where NATO states backed political opposition figures and supported
al-Qaeda-linked rebels to act on their behalf in overthrowing governments they
were tired of.
Reports
of Saudi Arabia financially supporting Philippine terrorists should also not be
taken lightly, as Gulf States have moved in-step with the US and NATO as the
main financiers of Salafist terrorist networks active in west Asia, north
Africa and elsewhere.
Without
resorting to elaborate conspiracies in the absence of hard facts, it would be
entirely negligent to ignore circumstantial evidence linking Malaysian figures
to this insurgency, especially considering all sources of this nature are non-Malaysian
in origin.
There
is no doubt that the Sultan has no legitimate legal claims over Sabah since the
International Court of Justice has long recognized Malaysia’s rights and
sovereignty over the territory, and the highly unusual timing of the Sulu operation
being so close to elections in both countries will naturally be perceived as
suspect. Militancy and terrorism undermines the Sultan’s claims entirely and
lends much credibility to suspicion that the Sultan has not acted alone.
Even
if the US isn’t involved, the fact that a figure who received blatant US
support has been implicated is significant. There is much at stake in Sabah,
and in the words of the Sultan, “The only thing that could end the conflict is
an intervention.”
(NOTE : Nile Bowie is an independent political analyst
and photographer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He can be reached at
nilebowie@gmail.com)
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