PREPOSITIONAL BACKGROUND Where Is Sabah? Sabah is the northern part of Borneo.

It is bordered by Sarawak on its southwestern side, and Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) to the south. Sabah has a coastline of approximately 800 to 900 miles and with then South China Sea in the west and north, the Sulu Sea in the northeast and the Celebes Sea in the east. Sabah's total land area is 76,115 sq km (29,388 sq miles). Sabah's population is about 2.5 million. It is 1,143 km from Manila - note that it is nearer ton Manila than Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur. North Borneo is much undeveloped and very rich in natural resources. One of the wealthiest oil producing countries is located in same island.(Wikipedia) History The earliest known settlement in the areas soon to be occupied by the sultanate was in Maimbung, Jolo. During these times, Sulu was calledLupah Sug. The Principality of Maimbung, populated by Buranun people (or Budanon, literally means "mountain-dwellers"), was first ruled by a certain rajah who assumed the title Rajah Sipad the Older. According to Majul, the origins of the title rajah sipad originated from the Hindushri paduka, which symbolizes authority. The Principality was instituted and governed using the system of rajahs. Sipad the Older was succeeded by Sipad the Younger.During the reign of Sipad the Younger, a mystic named Tuan Mashikha arrived in Jolo in 1280 AD. Little is known to the origins and early biography of Tuan Mashikha, except that he is a Muslim "who came from foreign lands" at the head of a fleet of Muslim traders,[9] or he was issued from a stalk of bamboo and was considered a prophet, thus well respected by the people. THE LEASE STARTED IT ALL During the Sulu Sultanate later came under the control of Spain in Manila. In 1885, Great Britain, Germany and Spain signed the Madrid Protocol to cement Spanish influence over the islands of the Philippines.Spain relinquished all claim to North Borneo which had belonged to the Sultanate in the past.The Sultanate of Sulu was granted the territory as a prize for helping the Sultan of Brunei against his enemies and from then on that part of Borneo is recognized as part of the Sultan of Sulu's sovereignty. In 1878, Baron Von Overbeck, an Austrian partner representing The British North Borneo Co. and his partner British Alfred Dent, leased the territory known as "Sabah" - roughly translated as "the land beneath the winds". In return the company will provide arms to the Sultan to resist the spaniards and 5,000 Malaysian ringgits annual rental based on the Mexican dollars value at that time or its equivalent in gold. This lease have been continued until the independence and formation of the Malaysian federation in 1963 together with Singapore, Sarawak and Malaysia.

ISSUES The great controversy with the Sulu Sultanate is whether the contract involving territories including Sabah was for a lease or a cession.( Two versions of contract) Malaysia invaded "Did Brunei actually give Sabah to the Sulu Sultanate?"

TWO VERSIONS OF CONTRACT In 1658 the Sultan of Brunei gave away the north and eastern part of what is now Sabah (not the whole of Sabah) to the Sultan of Sulu after the latter helped the Sultan of Brunei quell a rebellion in Brunei. The most critical turning point in the whole issue of the Sabah claim began on June 22, 1878 when a contract was signed between Sri Paduka Maulana Al Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam representing the sultanate as owner and sovereign of Sabah and Gustavus Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent, representing the British East India Company (later named the North Borneo Company) as the lessee of North Borneo. The great controversy here is whether the signing of the contract was for a lease or a cession. The British version of the treaty says that hereby grant and cede all the territories and lands being tributary to us on the mainland of the island of Borneo from the Pandassan River on the north-west coast and extending along the whole east coast as far as the Sibuco River in the south and comprising, amongst other, the States of Paitan, Sugut, Bangaya, Labuk, Sandakan, Kina Batangan, Mumiang, and all the other territories and states to the southward thereof bordering on Darvel Bay and as far as the Sibuco river with all the islands within three marine leagues of the coast. The Sulu version says, do hereby lease of our own freewill forever and until the end of time, all rights and powers which we possess over all territories and lands tributary to us on the mainland of the Island of Borneo, commencing from the Pandassan River on the west coast to Maludu Bay, and extending along the whole east coast as far as Sibuco River on the south, and all the other territories and states to the southward thereof bordering on Darvel Bay and as far as the Sibuco River

Malaysia Invaded At first the Malaysian security forces suspected the intruders were Islamist militants (the Philippines has plenty such people in its southernmost islands). They swiftly surrounded the village. Negotiations ensued. Malaysian officials informed the Filipinos that they had entered Sabah illegally and would be deported. The men refused to go, and as The Economist went to press were still there. The Philippine government was taken aback. It denied any hand in the incursion and asked for the safe return of its citizens.

To understand what it is all about, go back to 1658. Then the sultan of Brunei gave Sabah, in what is now the Malaysian portion of the France-sized island of Borneo, to the sultan of Sulu, who ruled a part of what is now the Philippines. In 1878 the sultan of Sulu leased Sabah in perpetuity to the British North Borneo Company. In 1946 the company ceded control of Sabah to Britain. Eleven years later, the sultan declared the lease void. But Sabah opted to become part of Malaysia when it gained independence in 1963. The sultan subsequently assigned his Sabah claim to the Philippines. Malaysia still pays him a token rent. Some Filipino Muslims regard with nostalgia the heyday of the sultanate of Sulua time before colonial rule first by Spain, then by America, and latterly by the Christian majority in an independent Philippines. The sultan, Jamalul Kiram III (there is also another claimant), is now a merely symbolic figure. His claim to Sabah is a romantic fantasy, yet one that grips the imagination of those hoping for another golden era. It was the Philippine governments betrayal in 1968 of a plot to pursue the claim to Sabah by force of arms that provoked the rebellion by Muslims seeking independence for their heartland in Mindanao in the south of the country. The Philippine government suspects that the incursion into Sabah is a plot to wreck the peace agreement. A representative of the sultan denies this was the purpose. But the sultan himself says he is upset at being excluded from the process. Suspicion also falls on another Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). ANALYSIS At least 108 people with alleged links to the self-proclaim Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III faced a Malaysian court Wednesday for the Sabah incursion over a month ago, a Malaysian news agency reported. The News Straits Times said the Lahad Datu district police headquarters was turned into a temporary Magistrates Court to hear the case of suspected supporters of Kiram. Section 1 of Article II of the 1987 Constitution declares: The Philippines is a democratic and republican state. The peoples sovereignty extends throughout the National Territory, including Sulu, as defined by the Constitution. Incidentally, there is no mention of Sabah in the National Territory. Section 2 of the same article II declares: The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the nation and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation and amity of all nations. This are the sections that are violated in this particular matters. The court proceedings, which were barred from being covered by the media, were presided over by Sessions Court judges Duncan Sikodol from Kota Kinabalu and M.Rajalingam from Lahad Datu. Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail and Armed Forces chief Tan Sri Zulkefli Mohd Zin also attended the court proceedings.