PUTRAJAYA will organise a series of tours in several countries, led by Law and Institutional Reforms Minister Azalina Othman Said, to explain issues relating to a Sulu group’s claims, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

He said she will explain the Sulu group is a terrorist organisation, and prevent bad perceptions of Malaysia.

“Explanations must be given about the Sulu group’s claims because the world community does not know the truth and believe they (Sulu group) are just a separatist group.

“We must set the record straight as it (the Sulu group) is not just categorised as smugglers or intruders, but also terrorists,” he told reporters after attending a meet-and-greet in Kota Baru today. 

Yesterday, the Special Secretariat on Sulu Claims said Malaysia is scrutinising its existing measures to counter the group’s claims in a bid to preserve national sovereignty.

It said the government is making further checks to ascertain if any of the group’s eight claimants have an affiliation or family ties with the Royal Sulu Forces terrorist group, which has been punished by a court for an intrusion in Lahad Datu, Sabah.

It said the government insisted the claimants’ rights and claims were invalid and void, and were terminated through the exercise of the right to self-determination by the people of Sabah through the consultation of the Cobbold Commission in 1962 and the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. – Bernama, March 15, 2023.