Kiram camp: Agbimuddin's mobile phone calls coming from Sabah

Saying he is using a Sabah SIM card for his calls, the camp of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III on Saturday maintained the sultan's brother Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram has not fled Sabah and returned to the Philippines. Abraham Idjirani, the Sulu Sultanate's spokesman, said Agbimuddin called before 6 a.m. Saturday to update them on the status of the group in Sabah. "Tingnan mo ang SIM card na gamit ko... [Agbimuddin] is still in Sabah (Check what SIM card I am using in this call. That will show he is still in Sabah)," Idjirani said in an interview on dzBB radio. But he said Agbimuddin and his followers are always on the move from Malaysian security forces conducting offensives in the Lahad Datu area. Malaysian security forces started their offensive last March 5, following deadly clashes starting March 1. Idjirani also said the group's number had gone down to about 170, as about 30-plus of them had been reported intercepted in Tawi-Tawi earlier this week. Malaysia to seek info from PHL Meanwhile, Malaysia's Bernama news agency said Malaysia will ask the Philippine government for information regarding reports of an "opposition figure" financing the entry of Kiram's followers to Sabah. The report quoted Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as saying he read a supposed statement from Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin that there was possible "evidence to link the Lahad Datu intrusion to the opposition there." "We hope they will provide us with detailed information through diplomatic channels, the Foreign Ministry, for us to know the truth," he said. "It is important that we also want to know if anyone in Malaysia is linked to the incident. We will know the truth if we have a copy of the report," he added. He noted that while Kiram's followers "do not have the capacity to carry out the intrusion, they were using modern arms." — LBG, GMA News