Lahad Datu: Self-styled Sulu Sultan calls for immediate unilateral ceasefire

Spokesman: 10 Sulu gunmen are dead; another 10 have been captured; four wounded

MANILA: The self-proclaimed Sulu sultanate has called for an immediate ceasefire to the standoff in Sabah following calls by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to end violence in Sabah and start holding dialogues.

“The Sultan (Jamalul Kiram III) (pix) is calling for a unilateral ceasefire of the sultanate of Sulu effective this hour, 12.30 in the afternoon of Thursday,” spokesperson Abraham Idjirani said, according to ABS-CBNnews.com.

Veteran Moro guerrillas heading to Sabah

The fighters are veteran members of the Moro National
Liberation Front and some have slipped through
the security forces.

MANILA: Battle-hardened Moro guerrillas have sailed from Mindanao to reinforce followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III who are battling Malaysian forces in Sabah, one of their leaders said Wednesday.

The fighters are veteran members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) who waged a decades-long insurgency against the Philippine government before signing a 1996 peace pact, Muhajab Hashim told AFP.

“Many have slipped through the security forces. They know the area like the back of their hands because they trained there in the past,” Hashim told AFP.

Covering the elections fairly

I WAS struck last week by theSun’s reporting of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s convention and newly unveiled manifesto. The 26 Feb 2013 coverage featured a full page on the PR convention and another colour page with a summary of the manifesto’s highlights. The articles were generally neutral and informative, and gave a good overview of what the PR was promising if it were to take federal power at the next general election. Reports the next day focused on analysts and non-governmental organisations’ critical reactions to the manifesto.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez dead from cancer

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez hugs his daughters Rosa (left) and Maria while
appearing to supporters on a balcony of Miraflores Palace soon after his return to
the country from Cuba, where he underwent surgery and treatment for cancer,
in Caracas in this July 4, 2011 file photo. – Reuters pic

CARACAS, March 6 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died after a two-year battle with cancer, ending the socialist leader’s 14-year rule of the South American country, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised speech yesterday.

The flamboyant 58-year-old leader had undergone four operations in Cuba for a cancer that was first detected in his pelvic region in mid-2011. His last surgery was on Dec 11 and he had not been seen in public since.

‘Princess’ claims Kiram group alive, would free Malaysian hostages

Source

Self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III (seated, right)
and his followers display placards in front of Blue Mosque in
Maharlika village, near Manila, March 1, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 ― Rebel leader Agbimuddin Kiram and his band of militants have survived Malaysia’s aerial assault and “mop-up” operations, Sulu “princess” Jacel Kiram claimed this morning on national television in the Philippines.

The daughter of the elderly Jamalul Kiram, one of the nine claimants to the Sulu Sultanate, said her uncle was willing to release the four Malaysian hostages they claim to be holding captive, but wanted to do so in front of the international media and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Committee to prove they were unharmed