Archive for category Foreign
Controversy as shaman performs ritual to help find missing Malaysia Airlines plane
Posted by Kit in Airline, Anwar Ibrahim, Foreign, Transport on Friday, 14 March 2014
Lindsay Murdoch
Sydney Morning Herald
March 14, 2014
Kuala Lumpur: As Malaysia’s government struggled to defend its handling of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, controversy has erupted over a witch doctor who carried out a ritual at the capital’s international airport, who claimed he was trying to find it.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said the government had never before embarrassed itself to this extent on the international stage by allowing Ibrahim Mat Zin, the witch doctor or shaman, to perform a ritual in public that was an affront to Islam. Read the rest of this entry »
US experts: MH370’s last ‘ping’ sent over water
The Malay Mail Online
March 14, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Flight MH370 had sent a series of “pings” or electronic pulses, with the last transmitted from a location over water at a cruising altitude, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported today as searchers cast their eyes further west towards the Indian Ocean in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) passenger plane.
Citing several unnamed US military and space industry officials who had been briefed on the investigation, the US daily reported that the satellites had also received speed and altitude information about the aircraft from the five or six “pings” before the pulses disappeared, which the experts believe could help them decipher its route and location.
But the people involved in the matter had declined to divulge the specific flight path the plane had transmitted, WSJ reported.
According to the report, an industry official said it was possible that the system sending them had been turned off by someone onboard the plane.
The report follows new evidence showing the Boeing 777-200 jumbo jet carrying 239 people had continued its flight hours after it supposedly left radar detection. Read the rest of this entry »
US: Search may extend to Indian Ocean
Malaysiakini/Reuters
Mar 14, 2014
A new search area for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 may be opened in the Indian Ocean, the White House said, significantly broadening the potential location of the plane, which disappeared nearly a week ago with 239 people on board.
Expanding the search area to the Indian Ocean would be consistent with the theory that the Boeing 777 may have detoured to the west about an hour after take-off from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.
“It’s my understanding that based on some new information that’s not necessarily conclusive – but new information – an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean,” White House spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters in Washington.
Carney did not specify the nature of the new information and Malaysian officials were not immediately available to comment.
The disappearance of the MAS plane is one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of modern aviation. There has been no trace of the plane nor any sign of wreckage despite a search by the navies and military aircraft of more than a dozen countries across Southeast Asia. Read the rest of this entry »
Rare but sometimes, plane crash sites are not found, says aviation expert
The Malaysian Insider
March 14, 2014
If efforts to find the missing flight MH370 fail as the search enters its first week, it might be that the crash site simply cannot be found, says a former aviation safety and security writer.
Citing a 1972 crash involving a Pan Alaska Airways flight, Sylvia Adcock, writing in CNN’s website, said a Cessna took off from Anchorage bound for Juneau in bad weather. The plane never arrived.
The search for the missing aircraft was intense and covered an area of 325,000 square miles, with up to 3,600 flight hours involved in the search for the wreckage. It was never found and the search was called off 39 days later. Read the rest of this entry »
Pentagon convinced of ‘manual intervention’ in MH370 transponder, communications shutdown
The Malay Mail Online
March 14, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Seven days since flight MH370 fell off the radar, two senior US defence officials are now convinced there was “manual intervention” that led to the shutdown of two communication systems aboard the jumbo jet that happened separately.
US broadcasting network ABC News cited one of the military officials as saying the information indicates the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plane did not fall out of the sky due to a catastrophic failure of its systems, a theory that had been previously floated after the Boeing 777-200 vanished without a trace.
The report also cited US investigators saying the two modes of communication were “systematically shut down”.
That means the US team “is convinced that there was manual intervention”, ABC News reported on its website this morning, citing anonymous sources—bolstering speculation of a hijack. Read the rest of this entry »
US says lost MH370 flew on for hours, flight data given by Malaysia
The Malaysian Insider
March 14, 2014
Evidence that flight MH370 flew on for another four hours after vanishing early Saturday morning came from data shared by Malaysian authorities, not from engine maker Rolls-Royce, Washington Post reported today.
As a result of unspecified “new information,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said authorities searching for the Boeing 777-200ER may expand the hunt into the Indian Ocean, which extends hundreds of kilometres further west.
Obama administration officials later said the new information was that the plane’s engines remained running for approximately four hours after it vanished from radar early Saturday en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. There were 239 people on board.
One senior administration official said the data showing the plane engines running hours after contact was lost came from the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS, a way that planes maintain contact with ground stations through radio or satellite signals.
The official said Malaysian authorities shared the flight data with the administration. Read the rest of this entry »
Distrust adding to Malaysian jet confusion, say analysts
The Malaysian Insider
March 13, 2014
Deep distrust between Asian neighbours and sensitive security issues are jamming essential communication lines in the chaotic hunt for a Malaysia Airlines plane, analysts said today.
Bickering between Malaysia, China and others involved in trying to solve the baffling weekend disappearance of the jet has exposed longstanding tensions and prevented a coordinated response, they said.
“There clearly are communication problems on multiple levels. There is an underlying lack of trust in these matters,” Bridget Welsh, an associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University, told AFP.
“The issues of protecting territory, security intelligence and interests are starting to win over the common goal of finding the plane and closure.” Read the rest of this entry »
David Cameron says Sri Lanka need to go ‘further and faster’ in answering human rights concerns
Posted by Kit in Foreign, Human Rights on Saturday, 16 November 2013
The Telegraph
AFP
16 Nov 2013
David Cameron put Sri Lanka on notice on Saturday to address allegations of war crimes within months or else he would lead a push for action at the United Nations.
Speaking at a troubled Commonwealth summit in Colombo, the British Prime Minister warned his hosts that pressure over alleged abuses at the end of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict was not about to go away.
He also told of how he had “frank” exchanges with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa after he returned from a historic visit to the war-torn Jaffna region. Read the rest of this entry »
British PM David Cameron meets Tamils in Jaffna; Sri Lanka fumes at CHOGM
Posted by Kit in Foreign, International on Saturday, 16 November 2013
The Times of India
AFP | Nov 15, 2013
COLOMBO: Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron made an historic visit Friday to Sri Lanka’s former warzone, stealing the spotlight from a Commonwealth summit after the host, President Mahinda Rajapakse, warned against passing judgment on his country’s past.
Only hours after the summit opened in Colombo, Cameron flew into the northern Jaffna region where some 100,000 people lost their lives in fighting between Tamil rebels and troops from the majority Sinhalese government.
Several women who lost relatives during the war tried to hurl themselves in front of Cameron’s motorcade as he became the first foreign leader to visit Jaffna since the former British colony gained independence in 1948.
Clutching photos of their missing loved ones, they screamed “We Want Justice” before the premier sped away.
He later toured the offices of a Tamil newspaper whose printing presses have been torched several times, including in April this year, and which has lost five staff in attacks since Rajapakse came to power in 2005.
“This is going to make a very lasting impression on me. That is something you don’t forget,” Cameron told journalists at “Uthayan” (Sun) daily where the portraits of slain staff line the walls.
“But it’s only when you see it with your own eyes, it really brings home just how much you’re suffering.” Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Singapore authorities to give Malaysians who have violated the Singapore laws a second chance like former Johor Mentri Besar Ghani Othman
I call on the Singapore authorities to give Malaysians who have violated the Singapore laws for activities in the island republic in connection with the Malaysian 13GE a second chance like they have given to former Johor Mentri Besar, Datuk Ghani Othman.
It has been reported that the Singapore authorities have initiated the revocation of the work pass of one of the 21 Malaysians involved in the May 8 and 11 illegal gatherings at Merlion Park in Singapore and that the authorities had also cancelle3d the visit passes of another two of them.
As for the remaining 18 persons, a Singapore Police Force (SPF) statement said their work passes would be reviewed upon completion of further investigations.
The Singapore authorities have also said that Datuk Seri Ghani Othman had not campaigned and had therefore committed no offence when visiting Singapore in the final days of the 13GE campaign period.
I commend the Singapore authorities for bending backwards to accommodate Ghani, saying that the former Johor Mentri Besar was not campaigning in Singapore although it was obvious to all that the very objective of Ghani’s visit to Singapore was to canvass for votes from Malaysians either working or staying in Singapore – believed to number some 400,000.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lahad Datu – a bizarre crisis
Iskandar Dzulkarnain | March 16, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
The sultan should seriously get a life and or get a job. How long can he and his band of merry men last if they continue to go around pretending to be royal consorts of an imaginary kingdom?
COMMENT
Apparently, our billion-ringgit jet fighters missed their targets, as mopped-up operations failed to turn in any bodies, while the chief of the militant group, “Prince” Agbimuddin Kiram, has appeared on Philippine national TV live in a telephone interview.
So, there was no total victory as reported and the siege has not ended. The stand-off is turning more bizarre as the Philippine media reported a conspiracy involving the Philippine opposition under former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Coincidentally, the Malaysian government is also pointing its fingers at the involvement of the opposition here. Representatives of the self-proclaimed Sultan Jamalul Kiram III were alleged to have attended the Umno annual general assembly last year, while some Sabah Umno representatives are alleged to have close ties with the Sulu Sultanate.
So, it is not merely the case of a simple band of 200 opportunistic marauders landing on Sabah’s shores with the high hopes of staking a claim on Sabah. Apparently, there is more at stake involving the governments or opposition of both countries.
“Princess” Jacel Karim of the Sulu Sultanate has come up with contradicting statements, adamant that the Malaysian government has agreed in principle to pay compensation to the Sulu Sultanate, a few months before the onset of this conflict. She is also reportedly unhappy with the terrorist label and claims that the intruders are armed with the “truth”. Read the rest of this entry »
Intrusion confusion – A farcical invasion of Borneo gets serious, and nasty
The Economist
Mar 9th 2013
FIGHTER aircraft gave covering fire as Malaysian troops mounted what their government hoped would be the final assault on a coastal village in the Malaysian state of Sabah, on the island of Borneo, on March 5th. Their mission was to end a three-week-old incursion by scores of Filipinos, some armed, who call themselves the Royal Army of the Sultanate of Sulu. But the intruders slipped away.
The intruders had occupied the village to stake a claim to Sabah by the man they recognise as the sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, whose forebears once held sway over parts of Borneo and of what is now the Philippines, but who himself is a Filipino citizen living in Manila. After the assault, the sultan called for a ceasefire, but told his followers to stay put. If the Malaysian government thought the assault would end the incursion, it was mistaken. Its mistake is one of a series which threatens to turn what originally had the air of a quaint historical pageant played out with live ammunition into a real guerrilla war.
The Philippine government made the first mistake three years ago, by mislaying a letter from the sultanate asking it to take into account the claim to Sabah in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a rebel group that had been fighting for independence for Muslim areas in the south of the mainly Christian Philippines. Previous governments had pressed the sultan’s claim. More recent governments have let it lie dormant, not least because Malaysia is the broker of peace between the government and the MILF. A preliminary peace agreement signed last year makes no mention of the claim. The sultan was slighted. Read the rest of this entry »
Sabah Incursion: Just my thoughts
― Art Harun
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 06, 2013
MARCH 6 ― The incursion by the Sulu terrorists into Sabah is a culmination of socio-political complexities that were ignored due to post-World War II socio-political order and convenience.
Firstly, we have an ancient Sultanate living in the 18th century, forgetting the fact that their forefathers have sold their sovereignty for self interest, without nary a thought for the people whom they claim to rule, in exchange for what appeared to be big money then, but reduced to pittance in the 21st century.
We have a so-called Sultan who apparently rules his subjects from Manila, who speaks as if he’s the most benevolent of rulers and who sent his subjects to a hopeless war from within the comfort of Metro Manila.
Secondly, we have a government of a state ― which is not really a state ― that fails to control and impose law and order on wide areas of the so-called state, giving rise to vast areas where people do not really recognise the state and her government. Read the rest of this entry »
Sabah, Merdeka and Aquino
by Glenda M. Gloria
http://www.rappler.com
03/03/2013
Is it possible to understand Muslim Mindanao without looking at Malaysia? Perhaps not. This stern neighbor has played its hands rather wisely: feeding a Filipino rebellion on one hand, and helping end it on the other.
Sabah has been home to thousands of Muslims who once fought for independence under the Marcos dictatorship. It was their refuge when the military continued to pummel them with bombs and bullets in Mindanao. Sabah was always part of their real — and imagined — community. Before colonizers carved out superficial boundaries in that part of the world, the Muslims of Sabah, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu were one community that freely traded goods with each other, paid unhampered visits to one another, and spoke the same language. The imperious Sultanate of Sulu reigned over these islands.
Thus while Manila has consistently put the Sabah claim on the back burner, the reality is that to many Filipinos, Sabah has long been theirs. They grew up on the island, got married there, raised their kids, and put up businesses. An estimated 65,000 Filipinos carry passports as “political refugees” in Sabah. In the capital city of Kota Kinabalu, I once asked a former member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) why he had chosen to live there. “It’s our land. These are my brothers,” he said. They call themselves “Suluks” not Filipinos.
At the height of the MNLF’s secessionist campaign in the 1970s and 1980s, Muslim rebels sought refuge in Sabah. In Sabah they mapped out plans to bring down the Marcos military to its knees. In its lush jungles they trained young recruits in guerrilla warfare. While Nur Misuari toured the Middle East to raise funds for his movement, his young commanders held clandestine meetings in Sabah to plot the war against Marcos.
Which begs the question, why would Malaysia tolerate this when it could not even put up with a ragtag group of old guards now holed up in Lahad Datu?
The answer partly lies not in Sabah or Sulu or Tawi-Tawi but in another place that keeps the dark secrets of a bungled special operation to invade Sabah: Corregidor Island. Read the rest of this entry »
Sulu sultan defies Aquino – ‘Point of no return is nearing’
Philippines Inquirer
12:02 am | Wednesday, February 27th, 2013
Withdraw now, or face the consequences.
President Aquino yesterday warned Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III he would face the “full force of the law”—possibly including arrest—unless he withdrew his armed followers from Sabah, Malaysia, but the sultan was defiant, saying his men were staying put in the disputed territory.
Amid the President’s warning, officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) met with Malaysian diplomats in Manila and simultaneously sent one of its senior officials to Kuala Lumpur to help end the crisis.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told the Inquirer Tuesday night that among those who could face arrest and charges were “principals by inducement and principals by direct participation.” She said the sultan could possibly be charged for being a principal by inducement.
At a press conference before flying to Cagayan de Oro City, where he was to campaign for the administration’s senatorial ticket, Aquino called on Sultan Kiram to order his followers in Sabah to come home, saying the situation was nearing “the point of no return.”
“We are fast approaching that point,” Aquino said, apparently referring to the 48-hour extended deadline imposed by Malaysian authorities for the group led by Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, brother of the sultan, to leave the village of Tanduao village in Lahad Datu town.
The deadline was to expire at the last hour of Tuesday.
“This is a situation that can’t persist,” the President said. “This is the time to demonstrate that you are a true leader both in name and deed.” Read the rest of this entry »
Hopes run high Sabah drama over in 48 hours
By Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
1:44 am | Tuesday, February 26th, 2013
MANILA, Philippines—The standoff between Malaysian security forces and an armed group of followers of the sultan of Sulu entered a third week on Monday with hopes running high that the drama would end within the next 48 hours.
The Malaysian government extended the deadline for the armed group to leave the village of Tanduao in Lahad Datu town by another 48 hours to allow time for talks between emissaries of the Philippine government and the family of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III for the recall of the so-called Royal Armed Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.
The first 48-hour extension of the Feb. 22 deadline expired on Sunday as the Philippine government sent a Navy ship to pick up the women and children among Jamalul’s followers to get them out of harm’s way in the event the Malaysian forces were forced to storm the Filipinos’ camp.
A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the ship was leaving for Sabah from Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, on Sunday night.
But the DFA said Monday the ship was still in Tawi-Tawi, awaiting diplomatic clearance to enter Malaysian waters and be on standby off Lahad Datu to receive the noncombatants from the armed group led by Agbimuddin Kiram, brother of Jamalul, who ordered the intrusion into Sabah to press his clan’s claim to the territory.
“We have learned that [Malaysian forces] have surrounded the area. So what we want to happen is [for] this group to now decide to leave the area for safety and get on board our humanitarian ship,” said DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez.
“We don’t want them to get hurt, to think of resorting to violence or whatever. That’s why we sent a ship there. It’s ready to go to the border when we have people who are ready to be moved and fetched,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Bilakah Najib akan meletak ketepi dahulu kempen hariannya untuk PRU13 dan pergi melawat mereka di Lahad Datu untuk memastikan penyelesaian segera kebuntuan dengan penceroboh Sulu yang sudah masuk minggu ketiga
Posted by Kit in Defence, Foreign, Hishammuddin, Law & Order, Najib Razak, Police on Monday, 25 February 2013
Saya mengalu-alukan lawatan Ketua Menteri Sabah Datuk Seri Musa Aman dan Kabinetnya ke Felda Sahabat 16 di Lahad Datu semalam bagi mendapatkan pandangan terus berkenaan kebuntuan antara pasukan keselamatan Malaysia dan yang kononnya Tentera Diraja Kesultanan Sulu.
Ini merupakan salah satu objektif lawatan saya ke Felda Sabahat 16 di Lahad Datu dua hari lalum bersama-sama dengan wakil yang dilantik DAP Sabah, termasuklah Jimmy Wong Sze Phing, Naib Pengerusi Negeri Frederick Fung, Setiausaha Negeri Dr. Edwin Bosi, Setiausaha Publisiti Negeri Chan Foong Hin, Ahli Parlimen Kota Kinabalu Hiew King Cheu, DAP Penolong Setiausaha Penganjur Kebangsaan Vincent Wu.
Lawatan kami ke Lahad Datu pada 20 Feb mempunyai objective berikut:
- Misi mendapatkan fakta untuk menentukan keadaan sebenar di tempat kejadian berkenaan kebuntuan yang berlaku;
- untuk memahami kebimbangan penduduk tempatan;
- menunjukkan solidariti dengan rakyat di Lahad Datu yang terkesan dengan kejadian itu; dan
- menghantar mesej yang jelas kepada Kerajaan Persekutuan dan kerajaan negeri Sabah, khususnya Perdana Menteri dan Ketua Menteri Sabah, untuk memberi keutamaan kepada siatuasi buntuk di sana bagi memastikan penyelesaian segera kerana semakin banyak masalah timbul kepada rakyat Sabah.
Saya gembira kerana kami telah mencapai matlamat sejauh mana melibatkan kerajaan negeri Sabah, kerana sejurus selepas lawatan kami, pada hari berikutnya Ketua Menteri Sabah dan rombongan Kabinetnya telah melawat Felda Sahabat 16 untuk mendapatkan taklimat di pos keselamatan General Operations Force (GOF) di sana. Read the rest of this entry »
PH sends ship to Sabah – But Sulu sultan says followers staying put
By Nikko Dizon, TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Originally posted: 9:23 pm | Sunday, February 24th, 2013
The followers of the sultan of Sulu holed up in a village in Sabah, eastern Malaysia, could be flushed out Monday after the expiration on Sunday of a 48-hour extension of the Malaysian deadline for them to leave and the failure of Malacañang’s back-channel efforts to solve the standoff peacefully.
The Philippine government sent a humanitarian ship to Sabah Sunday night to bring home the women and children among the sultan’s armed followers holed up in Tanduao village in Lahad Datu town and encircled by Malaysian security forces, but the sultanate said no one would go with the mercy mission.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement that the ship would sail from Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, before midnight and stand by off Lahad Datu as Malaysian authorities talked with the sultan’ followers.
The DFA said it informed the Malaysian Embassy last Saturday that the Philippine government was sending a ship to Sabah. Malaysian foreign minister Anifah Aman told AFP, however, that he had “yet to be informed on this matter.” Ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The vessel will sail for 11 to 12 hours and is expected to arrive in Lahud Datu at noon Monday. Aboard the mercy ship were Filipino Muslim leaders, social workers and medical personnel, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said, stressing that the government “was deeply concerned” about the presence of women among the group.
Del Rosario called on “the entire group to go back to their homes and families, even at the same time, we are addressing the core issues they have raised.”
“Please do so for your own safety,” he added.
An Inquirer source said Philippine officials hoped the Malaysians would hold their fire as the mercy mission was going on “for the sake of innocent lives.” Read the rest of this entry »
Who’s taking responsibility for Lahad Datu standoff?
Posted by Kit in Defence, Foreign, Hishammuddin, Najib Razak, Police, Sabah on Saturday, 23 February 2013
By Mat Zain Ibrahim | 11:29AM Feb 23, 2013
Malaysiakini
COMMENT Until today, there is not one honourable person who is prepared to take the responsibility for the lapse of security that resulted in the Lahad Datu standoff. Surely there must have been someone put in charge of the area, but has neglected his responsibilities.
If Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is serious about protecting the sovereignty, security and safety of our country and the citizens, he would have caught hold of one or two of the ground commanders and relieved them of their command.
Only then will the rakyat believe that the PM is not only in control but that he is on top of the situation and has his priorities right.
Since nothing of that sort is happening, we can only expect that, eventually, the blame will go to the lowest ranking soldiers, who will be accused of sleeping on the job and for failing to wake up their superiors. And also the constables who have failed to gather the intelligence before the intrusion for actions to be taken before the invaders landed.
This was the position taken by our Najib himself, when he was interviewed at length by reporters from on July 9, 2000, after the Sauk incident.
Read the rest of this entry »
Has the Defence Minister Gone AWOL?
Posted by Kit in Defence, Foreign, Hishammuddin, Najib Razak, Sabah on Friday, 22 February 2013
By Martin Jalleh
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