Sulu gunmen elusive after Malaysian assault

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysian soldiers and police are scouring rugged terrain in Sabah for armed Filipino intruders who are hiding a day after being bombarded with airstrikes and mortar fire.

The capture of nearly 200 followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III would ease public nervousness in Malaysia's resource-rich eastern state of Sabah, which has been shaken in the past week by the killing of eight police officers and 19 Filipino gunmen who slipped into neighboring Malaysia.

Malaysian security forces on Tuesday attacked the area that the Filipinos, led by Rajah Mudah Agbimudin Kiram the brother of the sultan, have occupied for three weeks.

More than 24 hours after the assault codenamed "Operation Sovereign" was launched, Malaysia's national police chief Ismail Omar said the main encounter was an exchange of gunfire in the hilly coastal district that is thick with foliage slightly after dawn on Wednesday.

Malaysian forces shot and possibly killed one of the clansmen, who appear to be trying to escape the area, Ismail said.

"We're in a good position. We ask the public not to panic," Ismail said, adding that authorities would expand their search area beyond the current 4 square kilometers (1.5 square miles).

But according to family members of Raja Mudah, he said via telephone that he and his followers remain unhurt.

"Bombs were dropped, but they are still safe," said Jacel Kiram, daughter of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of Sulu.

Commenting on Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman's announcement this week that the group was being formally considered terrorists, Kiram said, "Malaysia wants us dead, and all we want is to talk."

Malaysia had repeatedly urged the Filipinos to leave peacefully after they slipped past naval patrols last month and scared away villagers in an obscure part of Sabah's eastern seaboard.

The Filipinos refused to leave, insisting that Sabah, a state rich with timber and oil, had once belonged to their royal sultanate for more than a century and should be handed back.

Fighter jets and group forces attacked the area after the Filipinos fatally shot two Malaysia policemen last week. Six other police officers were ambushed and killed by other Filipino assailants believed to be linked to the clansmen at a waterfront village in another Sabah district on Saturday.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario met his Malaysian counterpart this week and "pursued the possibility of allowing for an unconditional surrender of the group to avert further loss of lives and allow them to return to their respective homes and families," according to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

Malaysian government officials have said the Filipinos must be prosecuted either in Malaysia or the Philippines for crimes such as murder.

The crisis has triggered fears that violence could spread in Sabah, a short boat ride from Muslim-majority southern Philippine provinces wracked by a decades-old insurgency. Sabah is also home to an estimated 800,000 Filipino settlers who've traveled here over the years to seek work and stability.

Activists have called for tougher border security and immigration policies in Sabah, presenting a major political challenge to Prime Minister Najib Razak's ruling coalition, which faces general elections that must be held by the end of June.

Some fear the crisis will also complicate peace talks brokered by Malaysia between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main Muslim rebel group in the southern Philippines. (AP/Sunnex)