ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 20, 2013) – Filipino relatives of members of the Sultanate of Sulu killed in clashes with Malaysian security forces would have to prove their DNA samples before they can claim the bodies in Sabah and bring them home to the Philippines.
Malaysian authorities said 62 people were killed in the fighting in Lahad Datu town where some 200 followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram headed by his brother Raja Muda Agbimuddin intruded in February to exert their determination and historical rights over the island.
Sabah is now one of Malaysia’s 15 states, which was formerly called North Borneo, a former territory of Brunei and ceded to the Sultan of Sulu for helping quell a rebellion in the 17th century.
Malaysia’s online news The Star reported that authorities wanted to bury the bodies in a temporary grave while awaiting relatives to claim the deteriorating cadavers.
“People from abroad who want to claim the bodies can register their intention with the Foreign Ministry while those in the country can go to the police,” Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said in a joint news conference with Armed Forces Chief Jn Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin at the operations command center in Felda Sahabat, about 165 kilometers from Lahad Datu.
He said hospital mortuaries cannot accommodate the number of bodies now decomposing and which pose health hazards.
Malaysia said more than 300 people who were suspected of supporting or aiding the group of Raja Muda Agbimuddin have been arrested and detained under a strict antiterrorism law, and that the operation against about 50 remaining army of the Sultanate of Sulu is going on.
Malaysia also lost 10 policemen and soldiers in the fighting. (Mindanao Examiner)
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