Malaysia, Philippines at odds over raid on 'Muslim rebels' in Sabah

Malaysian security forces had surrounded about 100 armed men believed to be from a breakaway rebel faction in the southern Philippines, Malaysian police and an official said yesterday. But a Philippine official said they were unarmed Filipinos who had been promised land.

The stand-off, in Malaysia's eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, threatened to stir tension between the Southeast Asian neighbours, whose ties have been periodically frayed by security and migration problems caused by a porous sea border.

"Our firepower is more than enough to arrest them, but the government has chosen to negotiate with them so they leave peacefully to return to the south of the Philippines," said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, visiting Sabah ahead of elections.

A high-ranking Malaysian government source said the gunmen were suspected to be from a faction unhappy with Manila's recent peace deal with the Philippines' main Muslim rebel group.

A Philippine Foreign Ministry spokesman said his government was trying to get information about the incident and was in touch with Malaysian officials.

A senior Philippine military official said navy boats and an aircraft had been sent to the border area. He dismissed the Malaysian account of the group, saying they were unarmed Filipinos who had been promised land in Sabah.

Another Philippine military officer said the men were followers of the heirs of the sultan of Sulu, an island group off the southern Philippines, who had been invited to Sabah by a Malaysian opposition politician to discuss land issues. Malaysia pays a token amount to the sultanate each year for the "rental" of Sabah state, an arrangement that dates to British colonial times.

The Philippines signed a peace deal with Muslim rebels late last year to end a 40-year conflict in the country's south.