ONE of the claimants from the Sulu group known as Fuad A Kiram has been classified as a terrorist, Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said.

He said Fuad has been listed in the entity classified as terrorists under section 66B of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorist Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 effective April 6.

“The Home Ministry has informed that Fuad A Kiram, who is also one of the founders of the Royal Sulu Force, which is a terrorist group, has been classified as a terrorist by the government,” he said in a media briefing in Putrajaya today.

Fuad, whose real name is Muhammad Fuad Abdullah Kiram, 69, is one of the eight individuals who claim to be the heirs of the Sulu group and are making claims against Sabah, including some Malaysian assets abroad.

In February last year, news agencies in Spain reported that the country’s arbitrator Dr Gondoza had ordered Malaysia to pay compensation of US$14.92 billion (RM62.6 billion) to the heirs of the sultan of Sulu.

Malaysia is accused of not paying separation money or compensation amounting to RM5,300 a year since 2013, which is said to have violated the 1987 agreement signed by Sultan Jamal Al-Alamn with Baron De Overbeck and Alfred Dent representing the British North Borneo company.

Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said the claim through commercial arbitration and proceedings against Malaysia was funded by a litigation fund known as Therium, where it conspired to claim US$14.92 billion from Malaysia.

Azalina said the facts of the case are not solid because until now it is not known whether the claimant is really the heir of Sultan Jamalul Kiran II.

The Sulu claim against Malaysia also ignored the will of the people of Sabah (self-determination) to join Malaysia in 1963 as reported by the Cobbold Commission.

Azalina said the government has created a website, which will be launched tomorrow containing information related to the history of the claim and the development of the case. – Bernama, April 11, 2023.