ZAMBOANGA CITY – An heir to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu – who led a foiled invasion in Sabah in Malaysia – has died from a heart attack in his small home in the southern Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi, reports said on Wednesday.
It said Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram, 74, died in the village of Tubig Indanan, but none of his family and relatives, and even the Filipino government have made a statement about his sudden demise. The news of his death spread like wild fire in Malaysia and were carried by many newspapers there.
Kiram was the younger brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who also died from a lingering illness at age 75 in October 2013, at the height of the fighting between their loyal forces and Malaysian soldiers. The young Kiram, tagging about 200 loyal followers, many of them armed with automatic weapons, landed in Sabah’s Lahad Datu town to reclaim the former territory, but many from his group were slain in the fighting with Kiram nearly killed until his daring escape back to the Philippines.
The Aquino government tried to resolve the problems peacefully with Malaysia and persuaded Kiram’s group to return home following weeks of standoff with Kuala Lumpur, but it failed. Sultan Muhammad Fuad Abdulla Kiram I and Sultan Esmail Kiram were also involved in the negotiations with the Philippine government.
Malaysia also put Sultan Jamalul and his brother on its wanted list and branded them as terrorists for intruding into Sabah and killing and decapitating 10 policemen and soldiers in separate clashes on the island.
Kiram’s group was sent to Sabah by Sultan Kiram to negotiate for his recognition, but Malaysia wanted to deal directly with another sultan, Esmail Kiram. Both Esmail and Fuad are receiving so-called cession money from Kuala Lumpur worth over P70,000 annually. But there are also dozens of other sultans claiming to be the real heir to the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.
Members of the Royal Security Force of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo have repeatedly warned the Aquino administration that violence may erupt in southern Philippines if President Benigno Aquino fails to support their long-standing historical claim on the island of Sabah which is now part of Malaysia.
The Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo continues to lay claim to Sabah. It obtained Sabah from Brunei as a gift for helping put down a rebellion on the Borneo Island. The British leased Sabah and transferred control over the territory to Malaysia after the end of World War II.
But the Sulu Sultanate said it had merely leased North Borneo in 1878 to the British North Borneo Company for an annual payment of 5,000 Malayan dollars then, which was increased to 5,300 Malayan dollars in 1903.
The Sultanate of Sulu was founded in 1457 and is believed to exist as a sovereign nation for at least 442 years. It stretches from a part of the island of Mindanao in the east, to Sabah, in the west and south, and to Palawan, in the north. North Borneo was annexed by Malaysia in 1963 following a referendum organised by the Cobbold Commission in 1962, the people of Sabah voted overwhelmingly to join Malaysia.
Malaysia continues to pay an annual stipend of 5,300 ringgits to the Sulu sultanate on the basis of the sultanate ceding the Borneo state. (Mindanao Examiner)
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