It appears that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had zealously jumped the gun when he said Brunei has dropped its claims over Limbang.

According to Foreign Minister Rais Yatim, the territorial dispute over Limbang will not be settled until the five existing historical demarcation agreements between Brunei and Sarawak have been resolved.

suhakam religion culture conference 090906 rais yatim speak “The agreement that involved exchange of letters between Abdullah and the Sultan of Brunei, fulfils the obligations stipulated by the conditions set under the five existing demarcation agreements since 1920 to 1939.

“Only when these five agreements have been resolved, then can the issue surrounding the claims of Limbang be resolved,” Rais told a press conference today.

He added it was inaccurate to say Brunei had dropped its claims over Limbang as the matter was not even discussed when Abdullah held talks with Brunei’s ruler, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah last Monday.

Limbang issue never discussed

Only when the demarcation works which includes land demarcation including the watershed principles, and maritime demarcation would the issue surrounding Limbang be resolved.

“So I urge the people to be patient until the demarcation works have been finalised by both countries through the technical committee,” he said.

When asked if it meant that the Limbang claim issue has technically not been resolved, Rais said that the suggestion is not quite accurate.

“The agreement is not that specific. They might have given an extrapolation on the five agreements so we have to wait until the demarcation work that would take at least one to one and a half years to finish (before making any conclusion),” he said.

The Malaysian media on Monday had pervasively reported Abdullah as saying that Brunei had dropped its claim on Limbang.

However, Brunei's Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng, denied publicly on Tuesday that such talks had taken place.

“In actual fact, the claim on Limbang was never discussed. What was discussed was the demarcation of land boundaries on the whole,” Lim was quoted as saying.