Sabah's decision to help form Malaysia in 1963 eliminates any claim on the state, previously known as North Borneo, said a professor from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Assoc Professor Dr Bilcher Bala.

The Social Science school lecturer said as such, any claims made on Sabah today was invalid.

"The formation of Malaysia in 1963 eliminates any claim on Sabah. In 1888 Sabah became a British protectorate and under a 1903 protocol, the Philippines came under the control of the United States, but without Sabah included.

"In 1946 Sabah was handed over completely to the British and in 1963 it became part of Malaysia," he told Bernama in Kota Kinabalu today.

Hence, he said, the action by Jamalul Kiram III in attacking Sabah, purportedly to claim the heritage of the Sulu sultanate, was a crime which could be regarded a terrorist attack.

On the payment by the Malaysian government to the heirs of the Sulu sultanate, he said it was just a compensation payment or gift for a 1787 "permanent lease" agreement.

Hence, the payment had to be made until death (the term used in the agreement is for as long as there is the moon and stars), he added.

Sabahans chose Malaysia

Bilcher said the people of Sabah chose to be with Malaysia as contained in the Cobbold Report.

“Only the Sulu sultan regarded the Sabah people as his, but the Sabah people did not recognise the sultan, except the Governor (now known as the Yang Dipertua Negeri).

"Therefore, the claim that he is the heir of the Sulu sultanate, even if the sultan exists, on Sabah is void because of the various agreements.

    

“The fact is, Sulu does not have a government or a country to warrant it the right to make any claim. The claim is just by an individual," he added.

In Kuala Lumpur, former foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar, commenting on the issue, told Bernama that the payment of US$5,000 (RM15,500) a year by the Malaysian government to the heirs of the Sulu Sultanate until today was not lease payment, but cession payment.

He claimed to have seen a cheque for the amount paid to the heirs of the Sulu sultanate when he was foreign minister from 1999 to 2008.

"The cession payment is like the payment made by the Penang government to the Kedah sultan when the island was given to the British," he added.

He also said that the self-proclaimed Sulu sultan could not bring his claim to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"The ICJ only handles cases involving a government which is recognised. The Sulu sultanate is not a government," he added.

Sulu sultanate doesn't exist

He said the administration and governance of the Sulu sultanate ended when sultan Jamalul Kiram II signed the Carpenter Agreement in 1915 with the United States of America, which controlled the Philippines then.

Syed Hamid said the Philippines did make its claim over Sabah at a time when Malaysia and Indonesia were staking their claim over Sipadan and Ligatan at the ICJ in 2001.

"The Philippines tried to join in the claim. However, ICJ rejected Philippines' intervention in the claim over Sipadan and Ligitan which are in Sabah waters.

"This clearly showed that the Philippines has no right on the state," he added.

    

Syed Hamid said Sabah was a sovereign entity under Malaysia because a report by the Cobbold Commission, set up prior to the formation of Malaysia, stated that the people of Sabah and Sarawak wanted to be independent as part of Malaysia.

Meanwhile, historian Professor Dr Ramlah Adam expressed confidence of the government having the documents on the agreement on the cession money.

She said the agreement stated that the payment was to be made to the heirs and not the Sulu sultanate.

"It is money for the heirs, not the sultanate. The Sulu sultanate no longer exists," she added.

- Bernama