Nur Misuari moves to revive Sabah claim

malaysianinsider - [...] The Moro National Liberation Front is reviving efforts to regain Sabah, a move that another Muslim secessionist group said is "a demolition job" on Malaysia which is brokering the peace talks between the latter and the government.

Former MNLF chairman Nur Misuari, together with Abdullah Kiram, one of the heirs of the Sulu Sultanate, said they would file a petition before the International Court of Justice to regain Sabah, a mineral-rich island that accounts for almost 50 percent of Malaysia's gross domestic product.

But according to Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, pursuing the Sabah claim is “an issue too hot to handle and could boomerang on his [Misuari's] leadership.”

Musa branded Misuari's move retaliatory. "It would appear that bringing up the issue once again is an act of vengeance or retaliation to the Malaysians for turning him over to the Philippines after he defected to Sabah after a failed rebellion in 2001."

Musa said that Misuari's claim on Sabah created the impression that he was trying to sabotage the government-MILF peace talks, which Malaysia facilitates since 2001.

According to National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, the government is not aware of Misuari's plan or is it supportive of the sudden revival of the Sabah claim.

"On whose authority will he pursue the claim? It should be the government that has to run after Sabah, and that is not at the top of our agenda right now," Gonzales told the Manila Standard said in an interview from Pakistan.... selanjutnya.