A vain effort to stake claim on Sabah

"No individual, group or country can claim Sabah. The world has recognised Sabah as part of Malaysia," he added.

Syed Hamid, who is also a former home minister, said history had shown that the Sultan of Sulu had surrendered his right on Sabah.

As such, he said, the invasion by the Sulu terrorists in Lahad Datu was a vain attempt.

Syed Hamid said that while he was foreign minister, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in deciding that the sovereignty over the islands of Ligatan and Sipadan belonged to Malaysia, had rejected the Philippines' claim intervention in the matter.

"At that time, there was an overlapping claim by Malaysia and Indonesia over Sipadan and Ligatan which are in Sabah waters. The Philippines also tried to make a claim.

"If the Philippines has grounds to make the claim, the ICJ would have allowed it to be a third party in the claim on Sipadan and Ligatan between Malaysia and Indonesia," he told Bernama.

He said Sabah's presence in Malaysia should no longer be questioned and that the cession payment of RM5,300 a year to the heir of the Sulu Sultanate was not a lease payment.

On an assumption that the intrusion issue would not be easy to resolve because of the presence of the large Sulu community in Sabah, Syed Hamid said that was true.

"Many countries have citizens with origins from other countries. The United States of America, for example, has many citizens who are for German and Polish descent.

"The question of where we come from is no longer an issue. The loyalty of the Sulu community in Sabah should no longer be questioned because they are now citizens of Malaysia," he added.

On the intrusion by the Sulu terrorists, Syed Hamid, who is now the Public Land Transport Commission chairman, said they could have been influenced by certain quarters.