Philippine sultan says followers will not leave Sabah
Claimants insist 'no turning back' in bid to regain ownership of ancestral territory
Followers of a Philippine sultan who mysteriously arrived in the Malaysian state of Sabah this month will not leave and are reclaiming the area as their ancestral territory, the sultan said amid a tense stand-off.
Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram said his followers - some 400 people including 20 gunmen - were resolute in staying despite being cornered by security forces, with the Kuala Lumpur government insisting the group return to the Philippines.
"Why should we leave our own home? In fact they [the Malaysians] are paying rent [to us]," he said in Manila. "Our followers will stay in [the Sabah town of] Lahad Datu. Nobody will be sent to the Philippines. Sabah is our home."
The sultan did not directly threaten violence but said "there will be no turning back for us".
Malaysian officials have said that many in the group have weapons, but Kiram insisted his followers made the boat trip to Sabah unarmed. "If they have arms, they were already in Sabah," the sultan said.
We don't have the arms and capacity but we have the historical truth
The southern Philippine-based Islamic sultanate once controlled parts of Borneo, including the site of the stand-off, and its heirs have been receiving a nominal yearly compensation package from Malaysia under a colonial-era agreement for possession of Sabah.
