Published on: Thursday, March 21, 2013
PETALING JAYA: Agbimuddin Kiram, the Sulu militant chief who led a 200-strong band into Sabah to reclaim it for his clan, was a Malaysian citizen and had worked as a state civil servant in Kudat, PKR asserted.
The opposition party's strategy director, Rafizi Ramli, said their information was obtained from a 1975 list of state civil servants kept in Sabah's archives, which recorded one "Datu Agbimudin Kiram" as a junior administrative officer in Kudat district who was appointed from March 1, 1974 with a monthly pay of RM610.
"This matter clearly shows 'Project IC' has a [connection] to the intrusion... which is also linked to the former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad," Rafizi said, referring to the controversial citizenship award plan that had taken place during the fourth PM's administration between 1981 and 2003.
He called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to clarify how Sulu militants obtained Malaysian citizenships and how many had in fact been awarded the blue-coloured identity cards.
The name in Sabah's national records was also spelt differently - "Agbimudin" with one "d", not "Agbimuddin" as has been reported widely in the media.
However, Rafizi and Leiking insist that it was the same person.
"It's from that point onwards that we keep getting fillers from Lahad Datu, Kudat and other placesÉ and say, 'Hang on a minute, this guy used to be an ADO here. Since when did he become Sultan Sulu?'" Rafizi said.
Rafizi said they then went on to contact locals, following which they managed to piece together a consistent tale that prompted their search for documentary evidence as corroboration.
According to him, the records they unearthed also do not show that Agbimudin Kiram has officially stopped serving the state government.
"[But] I think you can calculate roughly. He was born in '41, so if he retired at the age of 55, he should have left by 1996, if he continued to be in the service throughout. That would make him quite a long-serving government official, which because of that, a lot of people in Kudat know him."
On the possible location of Agbimuddin, Rafizi conceded that they did not know of his whereabouts.
"His brother, Sultan Jamalul Kiram, repeatedly said his brother is still in Sabah," PKR deputy secretary general Darell Leiking added.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Sulu sultanate confirmed but denied the militant leader had been granted Malaysian citizenship.
Abraham Idjirani, the Sultanate's Secretary-general, told Philippines media in Manila that Agbimuddin had served as an Assistant District Officer in Kudat.
Idjirani however, maintained that Agbimuddin - who is the younger brother to self-styled Sulu sultan Jamalul Kiram III - is Filipino and was never issued a Malaysian identity card as asserted by PKR.
"That time they said 'bigyan nyo kami ng IC, sabi ng Sabah authorities kahit hindi kayo bigyan, kayo ang may-ari ng Sabah' ('give us IC cards, but Sabah authorities told them, 'even if we don't give you, you own Sabah anyway)," Idjirani was quoted as saying.
He also said the Kirams, who are seeking to reclaim their 17th century ownership over the oil-rich north Borneo state now under Malaysian control, had lived in Sabah after the 1968 Jabidah massacre.
The Jabidah incident reportedly marked the killing of 27 Moro Muslim youths recruited for a top-secret mission to invade Sabah, at the hands of the Philippines armed forces during the Marcos administration.