Kiram camp claims Malaysian colonel, hit squad in PHL to kill sultan

A Malaysian colonel and four commandos have arrived in the Philippines for a supposed plot to kill Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who they blamed for the ongoing row in Sabah, the sultan's camp claimed Tuesday. Sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani claimed the Malaysian colonel also hired three hitmen from Quezon province for the supposed kill job, radio dzBB's Nimfa Ravelo reported. The hit squad's targets include the sultan and his supporters as well as his adviser Pastor Saycon, the report quoted Idjirani as saying. Idjirani said "A1" intelligence sources indicating the colonel, identified as Sunny Ng, arrived in the country with four commandos. He asked the National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines to verify the information for themselves. On the other hand, the report said the sultan's camp is eyeing installing closed-circuit television systems at their house, and may ask authorities for security. But the sultan himself insisted he was not afraid of such threats. The sultan's brother, Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram, is now in Sabah leading an armed group of the sultan's followers. However, they are now on the run after Malaysian forces started offensive attacks against them in Sabah last March 5. The offensive attacks stemmed from deadly clashes March 1 and 2.  — ELR, GMA News