Armed Pinoys in Sabah to be charged with murder -- Malaysian exec
Malaysian forces attack Sulu gunmen in Sabah . A Malaysian armored personnel carrier on Monday heads toward Tanduo village where a standoff between Malaysian forces and Sulu gunmen has been ongoing for three weeks. The Malaysian government beefed up its security forces in Sabah where nearly 30 people have been reported killed as police and soldiers grapple with a bizarre incursion by followers of a Sulu sultan. AFP/Moud Rasfan
The arrival of dozens of armed Filipinos into Sabah last month was "intrusion into our sovereignty not a war," Nazri said in a report of Malaysia's The Star Online news site.
As Malaysia considers the attack an "intrusion" not a war, the situation will be dealt with by the police, Nazri explained, adding that "if they've broke the laws of Malaysia, they can be charged in court."
He said the Geneva Convention would only come into play if Malaysia considers the attack as a war.
A Reuters report on Tuesday said Malaysian troops backed by fighter jets attacked the armed Filipino group on Tuesday, trying to end a standoff in Sabah after violence that killed at least 27 people.
Jets bombed the area in eastern Sabah state for more than 30 minutes before hundreds of ground troops moved in to search for around 180 Filipinos believed to be hiding near a coastal palm-oil plantation, Malaysian officials said.
Police inspector general Ismail Omar told reporters the mission's goals had been accomplished and there were no Malaysian casualties, without giving further details.
The group arrived by boat about three weeks ago claiming to be descendants of the Philippines' sultanate of Sulu.
They are demanding recognition and an increased payment from Malaysia for their claim as the rightful owners of Sabah, part of Borneo island and which the sultanate leased to British colonialists in the 19th century.
Malaysia has refused the demands. Manila has repeatedly told the group to put down their weapons and come home.
Malaysia has rejected the group's renewed claim on Sabah, which was leased by the sultanate of Sulu to a British trading company in the 19th century and later absorbed by Kuala Lumpur. Sulu is a Philippine island chain that lies between Sabah and the Philippines' Mindanao island. The sultan's family are traditional rulers, with no formal political powers.
For Malaysia, the crisis is complicated by the illegal immigration of Filipinos to Sabah, largely to work in palm oil plantations.
Sabah's population has more than quadrupled since the early 1970s and the Philippine government says about 800,000 Filipinos now live there.
Sabah residents have been transfixed in recent weeks by a public inquiry into allegations that illegal immigrants were handed identity cards by UMNO in a citizenship-for-votes scheme.
Much of the population in the area affected by the violence has cultural and family links to the southern Philippines -- an hour away by speedboat -- raising doubts over their allegiance.
Malaysia deported nearly 300 illegal Filipino immigrants on Sunday, a sign that ties between the neighbors could be frayed. - with a report from Reuters/VVP, GMA News
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