Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today rejected the call for a unilateral ceasefire by self-proclaimed Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram lll to end the gunfights and bloodshed in Sabah.
Najib said the Sulu gunmen must instead, lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally.
Najib said he has conveyed Malaysia’s stand on the matter to Philippines president Benigno Aquino.
He added that the operattion against the militants will continue as long as it takes.
“I received a call from Aquino moments ago and he asked me on Malaysia’s reaction to the call for ceasefire by Kiram. I told him that they lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally,” he said at a press conference at Felda Sahabat 16 here.
A ceasefire refers to a temporary cessation of hostilities for an agreed limited time or within a limited area. In other words, it happens when fighting ends with no one surrendering.
In contrast, an unconditional surrender is when one side surrender without conditions.
Earlier today, Defence minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also said that the country will only consider an ‘unconditional surrender’ by the armed intruders in Sabah.
“Do not believe the offer for a ceasefire by Jamalul Kiram,” Ahmad Zahid posted on his twitter account.
“In the interest of the rakyat of Sabah and Malaysia, (we must) wipe out all militants first.”
The unilateral ceasefire was declared as of 12.30pm today, according to Filipino media reports, quoting a spokesperson Kiram, Abraham Idjirani.
“The call for the unilateral ceasfire of his royal highness Sultan Jamalul Kiram III is in view of the reported massacre committed by the Malaysian authorit[ies] against 40 innocent civilians in Lahad Datu yesterday (Wednesday),” Idjirani said, according to a report in Inquirer Global Nation.
They hope that the Malaysian government would reciprocate.
Najib said the Sulu gunmen must instead, lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally.
Najib said he has conveyed Malaysia’s stand on the matter to Philippines president Benigno Aquino.
He added that the operattion against the militants will continue as long as it takes.
“I received a call from Aquino moments ago and he asked me on Malaysia’s reaction to the call for ceasefire by Kiram. I told him that they lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally,” he said at a press conference at Felda Sahabat 16 here.
A ceasefire refers to a temporary cessation of hostilities for an agreed limited time or within a limited area. In other words, it happens when fighting ends with no one surrendering.
In contrast, an unconditional surrender is when one side surrender without conditions.
Earlier today, Defence minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also said that the country will only consider an ‘unconditional surrender’ by the armed intruders in Sabah.
“Do not believe the offer for a ceasefire by Jamalul Kiram,” Ahmad Zahid posted on his twitter account.
“In the interest of the rakyat of Sabah and Malaysia, (we must) wipe out all militants first.”
The unilateral ceasefire was declared as of 12.30pm today, according to Filipino media reports, quoting a spokesperson Kiram, Abraham Idjirani.
“The call for the unilateral ceasfire of his royal highness Sultan Jamalul Kiram III is in view of the reported massacre committed by the Malaysian authorit[ies] against 40 innocent civilians in Lahad Datu yesterday (Wednesday),” Idjirani said, according to a report in Inquirer Global Nation.
They hope that the Malaysian government would reciprocate.
