KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 – Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad(Pic) has condemned the cruelty of the terrorists from Sulu which he regarded as inhuman and unIslamic. He said the government and people of Malaysia had long given good treatment to the people of Sulu, seeing many among them had stayed a long time in Sabah and progressed to become Malaysians.
Dr Mahathir was also of the opinion that the Malaysian government should consider reducing or doing away with with the cession payment of RM5,300 a year for Sabah, which is given to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, following the terrorist intrusion into the state.
The Malaysian government, all this while, only continued the agreement by the colonialists with the old Sultanate of Sulu (to make the cession payment), he told reporters after attending the 1Malaysia Farmers’ Convention at the Farmers Organisation Authority Tower, here, today. He added that the Malaysian government had developed and modernised Sabah.
Also present was People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas. Dr Mahathir also lauded the effort of the government to raise the salaries of police and Armed Forces personnel to be on par with civil servants in appreciation of their services.
What took place in Sabah had resulted in the government re-evaluating the role played by the security forces, he said.
BERNAMA
