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Philippine Muslims Vow to Fight to Death After Malaysia Assault
Philippine Muslims who invaded Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah last month are ready to fight to the death ...hokay, if you insist... after withstanding an aerial and ground assault, the clan's leader said today. Jamalul Kiram, who asserts he's the sultan of Sulu, called for direct talks with Philippine President Benigno Aquino to end a four-week incursion aimed at reclaiming territory it lost more than 100 years ago. Malaysian forces continued searching for about 180 of Kiram's supporters after an attack yesterday that followed clashes that killed more than 30 people. "I want to talk to the president directly so he would understand, not to his bad, heartless emissaries," Kiram told DzMM radio today from Manila, adding that his brother Agbimuddin Kiram, who is leading the fight on the ground, is alive. "He's ready to die. I won't ask him to come home." In that case why not make it easy for the Malaysians and send them your brother's GPS coordinates... The battle on Borneo Island erupted weeks before elections in both countries, with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak facing a late-April deadline to dissolve parliament as his ruling coalition seeks to maintain a 55-year grip on power. It also comes as Aquino aims to conclude a peace deal with a Muslim separatist group that Najib is helping to broker. Malaysian police officers and soldiers expanded their search to other parts of Sabah's eastern coastline, police inspector-general Ismail Omar said in a televised briefing today. Security forces shot dead one insurgent in an exchange of fire, he said, adding that no Malaysian police or soldiers were killed in yesterday's operation. Posted by: tipper 2013-03-06 |
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