Kiram's brother made brief phone call home Monday, says sultan's camp

Amid sustained offensives by Malaysian security forces on Sabah, the brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III called his family Monday night, Kiram's camp said. Raja Muda Azzimudie (Agbimuddin) Kiram made the call at about 10:30 p.m. Monday, radio dzBB's Mao dela Cruz reported Tuesday afternoon. According to the report, Azzimudie's call lasted less than a minute, lest Malaysian authorities trace the call and determine his location. Last Saturday, sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani denied that Azzimudie had fled to the Philippines, saying Azzimudie's calls from a mobile phone showed he was calling from Malaysia. Azzimudie and his followers have been on the run since March 5, when Malaysian forces launched offensives to flush them out of Lahad Datu. A report on Malaysia's The Star online quoted Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib as saying they expect to free the Tanjung Batu area of Kiram followers within Tuesday. A separate report on Malaysia's state-run Bernama news agency quoted Hamza as saying their forces and Kiram's followers clashed four times Monday, though there were no casualties. — BM, GMA News