The sustained attacks on Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar appear to be aimed at distracting attention from the jailing of her father Anwar Ibrahim, which has gained the attention of the United Nations.

PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said this in reference to criticisms from the government against Nurul Izzah for being photographed at a dinner with Sulu princess Jacel Kiram, the daughter of the late self-declared Sulu Sultan Jamlul Kiram III.

Jamalul was responsible for launching an attack on Sabah in 2013 - claiming the territory as his own - that left nine members of the Malaysian security forces dead.

"It is unfortunate that this one photo has been blown out of proportion when the real issue is about to Anwar's freedom.

"BN should not twist the issue in order to distract the Malaysian people from the declaration by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD)," Nik Nazmi said in a statement today.

He reiterated Nurul Izzah's meeting with Jacel at a dinner in Manila on the invitation of Philippine authorities as a coincidental meeting.

"PKR, including Nurul Izzah, are clear with regard to our position on Sabah and we are committed to defending the sovereignty of the nation, including all of its states," Nik Nazmi said.

BN leaders, in particular Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said, have been attacking Nurul Izzah repeatedly after a photograph of her with Jacel was circulated on the Internet.

MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker today stepped up his criticism of Nurul Izzah, as well as DAP's Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, who had defended her colleague, by berating the duo for not appreciating the gravity of the Sabah intrusion.

"I call upon the leadership of PKR and DAP to step in and advise these two misguided women, or lonely 'lost' souls, to stop aggravating the feelings of Sabahans and all other relatives and friends of the victims of the Abu Sayyaf and the unrecognised Sulu 'sultanate'," Ti said in a statement today.