View Full Version : Sipadan Kidnapping and Malaysian Politics
I recently came to find out some interesting (not so interesting maybe) information on the Sipadan Kidnappings in North Borneo that may or may not be helpful.
Its common knowledge among most politicians in Sabah that Malaysia has sanctioned and quietly assisted the funneling of money and weapons to the insurgency and other Islamic "freedom" fighters since the late 70's and also common knowledge for those of us who do know a little bit of history in the political realm. Libya had been funnelling weapons and money through Sabah up till the mid 80's.
Sabah, has for the most part been a christian dominated community (one of the 13 states in the federation of Malaysia) but we have seen a 280% increase in the number of "citizens" being issued mycards, or identity cards (which essentially mean someone is a child or new citizen) since the early 1990's till recent. This is unheard of in any developing country, especially Sabah given the population numbers here.
The Sipadan Kidnappings is something that was not planned but one that was carried out in relation to what the federal has been doing quietly, in that, it has been issuing and selling "citizenship" via the issuence of Mycards to Filipino's and Indonesians, to shift the christian majority to a muslim majority to favour their ambitions in the State.
There is currently a lot of unhappiness among local Sabahans who make up the original population because everyone knows whats been going on and who has been behind this "project M" as we call it but the federal government are turning a blind eye to it and pretending it never happened or continues to happen.
The Sipadan kidnapping, was a kidnapping that happened because the federal government, renegaded on a promise to pay these smugglers from Mindanao who had been transporting illegals into the state and assisting in the mycard project approx. MYR $6 million, which, was never paid as promised.
The very people who had been conducting the operation over a period of time were also former bodyguards of the former Sabah Chief Minister Yong Teck Lee, who is now, very much an opposition leader against the Federal Government and I am sure, has quite a lot of dirty secrets on the federal government, which is one of the reasons they haven't arrested him under the Internal Secrets Act, which is a 2 year isolation without a trail.
Yong Teck Lee had, in the past, had the very same kidnappers (or some of them from the actual kidnap team) as his personal bodyguards, as he is from Lahad Datu, a small town, north of Semporna town where Sipadan lies of the coast from and where some of them actually have homes and family.
It gives you an idea of how porous the border is between Sabah and South Philiipines.
The money, which was promised, was never paid and this pissed of these guys and the only way they were going to get their money was the easiest option available; Sipadan.
They actually departed out of Semporna and NOT Mindanao or Zambonga but once they had the kidnap victims, proceed across the border into Philippine waters.
The fact is the members of the kidnap team stayed at Hyatt Kinabalu day's before the kidnapping while waiting for the money which never was paid (the people who were supposed to make the payment decided they were not going to pay and were going to pretend they didn't have an agreement and keep the money for themselves as they were based in Kuala Lumpur).
Americans on the island was a bonus for them.
Yong Teck Lee, flew out to Manila, a few day's after the kidnapping with MYR $2 or 3 million which was hastily put together, with the hope it would be sufficient to appease the kidnappers and to release the hostages and he was hoping to slow talk the group's representatives whom he met in Manila, without success.
They refused and infact increased the ransom demand and wanted more given they now had americans in the group. This was why the malaysians were eventually separated from the americans and they were released, while the americans were not.
This was a business deal gone bad but it gives you some idea as to how the malaysian government is sort of linked in some ways to the Abu Syaff and how much weight they do or did have with the very same guys who lived and worked in Sabah and are also filipinos from the south and the fact they actually have malaysian ID cards (and are citizens).
I felt it was something that might be helpful to you in the future to understand the wierd political and social problems out in North Borneo.
magician
10-06-2008, 11:20
Thanks for posting.
I found your perspective interesting.
Thanks for posting.
I found your perspective interesting.
No worries magician. I learn something new every week about malaysian politics so, nothing surprises me anymore..
magician
10-07-2008, 14:34
No worries magician. I learn something new every week about malaysian politics so, nothing surprises me anymore..
I have been watching that whole debacle with the opposition politician accused of sodomy.
I have spent some time in Malaysia. Interesting place.
I have been watching that whole debacle with the opposition politician accused of sodomy.
I have spent some time in Malaysia. Interesting place.
It is an interesting place but you get the impression the hardline muslims are making adjustments to the "social contract" between the muslims and the non-muslims and there is a lot of tension in the air in Malaysia at the moment.
Its a great place to live IF you can put aside the political and social problems that do exist...and also ignore the amount of corruption at the highest political levels of government because its so blatantly obvious.
Sabah is a great place to settle down and retire in; property prices are pretty good, and you have a great number of opportunities to fish, hunt, dive, hike and cycle all over the state.
magician
10-17-2008, 03:07
Well, unlike other countries in SEA, Malaysia does permit foreigners to own land, and they have welcoming visa programs. They do the best job of making themselves attractive to retirees of any other country in the region, in my estimation.
I just find the place a bit boring, unfortunately. And I do not like the food.
:)
Well, unlike other countries in SEA, Malaysia does permit foreigners to own land, and they have welcoming visa programs. They do the best job of making themselves attractive to retirees of any other country in the region, in my estimation.
I just find the place a bit boring, unfortunately. And I do not like the food.
:)
Thats a fair comment; Thailand, if I had a choice, would be my 3rd choice after Singapore and Sabah. I still like going to Thailand; ignore the commercialism and tourism and people are terribly nice and its a great place to live as well. Its one of those countries I do visit 3-4 times a year just to get away from Malaysia.
Food is great, massages are cheap and I know my way around so, its decent.
I don't blame you for choosing Thailand. I think its a little bit more entertaining than what you get in Malaysia, especially West Malaysia.:)
magician
10-18-2008, 02:16
Thats a fair comment; Thailand, if I had a choice, would be my 3rd choice after Singapore and Sabah. I still like going to Thailand; ignore the commercialism and tourism and people are terribly nice and its a great place to live as well. Its one of those countries I do visit 3-4 times a year just to get away from Malaysia.
Food is great, massages are cheap and I know my way around so, its decent.
I don't blame you for choosing Thailand. I think its a little bit more entertaining than what you get in Malaysia, especially West Malaysia.:)
Thai politics have been very entertaining this year. Not to be jocular, but there is something quite serious taking place now.
The smartest assessment that I have heard of it all summed it up as the successional conflict between royalists and anti-royalists. It is just taking place before the death of King Bhumipol.
Fascinating times here. And yes, the chow is amazing.
:)
Thai politics have been very entertaining this year. Not to be jocular, but there is something quite serious taking place now.
The smartest assessment that I have heard of it all summed it up as the successional conflict between royalists and anti-royalists. It is just taking place before the death of King Bhumipol.
Fascinating times here. And yes, the chow is amazing.
:)
Green curry chicken all the way big daddy :)
And they appoint another stooge as PM...
Thai politics is, yes, fascinating.
Almost as fascinating as the malaysian deputy prime minister, the murdered mongolian model and the french submarines...
:)
ZonieDiver
10-25-2008, 17:31
Green curry chicken all the way big daddy :)
And they appoint another stooge as PM...
Thai politics is, yes, fascinating.
Almost as fascinating as the malaysian deputy prime minister, the murdered mongolian model and the french submarines...
:)
Okay, Hoot! You can't just let "murdered mongolian models" (such alliteration!) and french submarines lie there! Details, man... we need details! :D
DeMo180a
10-25-2008, 18:45
Great inside perspective. I really enjoyed it and am passing it on to some of my buds interested in the border dynamics between Malaysia and the PI.
DeMo
Okay, Hoot! You can't just let "murdered mongolian models" (such alliteration!) and french submarines lie there! Details, man... we need details! :D
Oh, you probably have more intel than I do on what happened :)
I think the big question is; what does a mongolian "model" who speaks french and is jet setting all over asia and europe and working as a "translator" for the soon to be prime minister of Malaysia have in common with the concluded french submarine deal (a couple of hundred million ringgit was paid to the company of the gentleman who is now on trial for her death; she was blown up with C4 or similar explosives after being shot in the head at close range in a deserted area in Kuala Lumpur that is now known to be a favourite site for assassinations by the very same bodyguards who were detailed to protect the soon to be prime minister of malaysia)?
Why does the malaysian ministry of defence need to pay another malaysian company a couple of hundred million (the company is owned by Mr.Razak) for "consultancy services" that it can do on its own?
The level of corruption in Malaysia is bad.
The gentleman who is on trial, Mr.Razak, has always been known in the political circles to be the soon to be prime minister of malaysia's "proxy" and political "advisor" but has been left out to hang for this. He also goes about claiming he is a "political scientist" (whatever thats supposed to mean).
A lot of background behind what actually happened is heresay so its important I think to be able to objectively concluded with some logic how this all resulted in her murder; a lot of rumors claim she was extorting the deputy prime minister (and soon to be prime minister of malaysia) for money as she got dumped by him and the politician simply got fed up of her causing problems and had his people pick her up outside of Mr.Razak's house and have her shot and blown up.
There was testimony's by the private investigator (or local hench man who is an ex-police man) as well as 1 or 2 others involved in the case but they have either escaped out of the country or have gone into hiding.
Malaysian politics is in an absolute mess as I said at the moment; the majority muslims (or bumiputera's) are divided among themselves. The indians are pissed off at the ruling government over year's of neglect economically and also because of the tearing down of hindu shrines and temples built year's ago when they were working in estates and plantations before most of the small towns and part of Kuala Lumpur had grown and developed in those area's and the chinese are angry with the state of the economy which had been shrinking before the global recession.
The stepping down of Prime Minister Badawi next March or April was due to heavy political pressure from within his ruling UMNO party and from outside factor's that gave rise to the racial problems the country faces.
I have honestly not seen malaysian's this divided as a nation for as long as I can remember; the malays don't trust the chinese or indians; the indians don't trust the malay's; the opposition are getting stronger but keep getting pegged back by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's personal problems of dating men of the same sex (they, the ruling government keep pegging him for it so there must be SOME truth in the matter though moral issues aside, the manner in which they are using it as a means to ruin him have back fired).
And then there is the issue of the ISA (internal security act) which the government have been using as often as you use your credit cards to put away political dissidents and to scare the opposition voices into submission.
Things are not so stable in Malaysia at this point in time but nothing comparable to whats going on in Bangkok.
magician
10-27-2008, 07:55
....a lot of rumors claim she was extorting the deputy prime minister (and soon to be prime minister of malaysia) for money as she got dumped by him and the politician simply got fed up of her causing problems and had his people pick her up outside of Mr.Razak's house and have her shot and blown up.
Are you referring to the same Deputy Prime Minister who has also been the Secretary of Defense for the past few years?
As for Mongolian models.... this thread is useless without pics.
:)
Slantwire
10-27-2008, 11:21
As for Mongolian models.... this thread is useless without pics.
Found a few by googling "Altantuya Shaariibuu." Not sure if I'd post them here.
magician
10-27-2008, 12:38
Found a few by googling "Altantuya Shaariibuu." Not sure if I'd post them here.
I regret my cavalier tone in my earlier post.
I have been reading the coverage of this affair, and it has to be the most sordid, disgusting miscarriage of justice that I have ever seen.
I have not yet seen any salacious photographs of the deceased. Many that are posted on the internet appear to be of a Korean personality who recently committed suicide. Nor do I believe that the deceased was an escort or a call girl, or even a "model," which is allegedly "code" for "prostitute" in Malaysia. I do believe that she was a translator, and I also believe that she was attempting to extort money from her wealthy lover, as she herself admitted in letters admitted into court testimony.
She sure did pay for it.
I met with DPM and Defense Secretary Datuk Seri Najib in KL a couple of years ago. The meeting was perfunctory, and related to business.
I sure am glad that I no longer have any need to spend time in Malaysia.
It makes me prefer Bangkok!
As long as you do not go near Government House, you would never know that there is any political unrest here.
The best gateway that I found to information on this matter was via Wiki. Then I started following links. The Courtroom of the Straits Times has a massive site on the affair.
This page (http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/11688/84/), which undermines Datuk Seri Najib's Islamic declaration of innocence, seems absolutely explosive to me.
I regret my cavalier tone in my earlier post.
I have been reading the coverage of this affair, and it has to be the most sordid, disgusting miscarriage of justice that I have ever seen.
I have not yet seen any salacious photographs of the deceased. Many that are posted on the internet appear to be of a Korean personality who recently committed suicide. Nor do I believe that the deceased was an escort or a call girl, or even a "model," which is allegedly "code" for "prostitute" in Malaysia. I do believe that she was a translator, and I also believe that she was attempting to extort money from her wealthy lover, as she herself admitted in letters admitted into court testimony.
She sure did pay for it.
I met with DPM and Defense Secretary Datuk Seri Najib in KL a couple of years ago. The meeting was perfunctory, and related to business.
I sure am glad that I no longer have any need to spend time in Malaysia.
It makes me prefer Bangkok!
As long as you do not go near Government House, you would never know that there is any political unrest here.
The best gateway that I found to information on this matter was via Wiki. Then I started following links. The Courtroom of the Straits Times has a massive site on the affair.
This page (http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/11688/84/), which undermines Datuk Seri Najib's Islamic declaration of innocence, seems absolutely explosive to me.
There are only two sides to the whole issue behind Altantuya Shaariibuu's murder and its really up to a person to decide which of the two sides they believe to be the reasons for her death.
One: she was murdered because she was persistently coming after the DPM for more money to shut up about their affair and was killed/murdered to shut her up and to scare her sister and cousin (who were in country as well) to stop disturbing him and his political secretary (mr.razak who is now on trial).
She was picked up outside razak's house and there is no dispute on this by anyone. There is no disputing she was shot in the head and blown up with c4 explosives, which are only available to malaysian special forces and restricted to only top ranked officers who are in the protection detail of the DPM.
The other theory was the DPM had nothing to do with it, might have crossed path's with her on occassion because she was close to Mr.Razak and that it was Mr.Razak who was behind her death.
A lot of sworn testimony has been produced but you wonder if most of it will be admitted into evidence or even used by the prosecution.
What I do know is the DPM has gotten away with what seemed like a murder rap and will become the next Malaysian Prime Minister in early 2009.
It really boils down to the person's character and what you think he is capable of.
I know where I stand on the matter no matter what any local media or press tell me because I know what certain people will do to ensure that Najib does become Prime Minister because "they" have so much invested in him for their own pockets that anything less than him becoming PM would be a disaster.
I don't believe he can be a fair or impartial leader because he has too much dirt in the closet and a number of people will use it to their advantage when it suits them.
Some photos and articles on her: http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=916&Itemid=31
I think you can try hard to be as open minded about the case but you keep coming back to essentially the same reasons why she was shot and then blown up so there was no body or evidence and to ensure she vanished.
Too much money at stake in the purchasing of the subs, too much money changing hands and reputations at stake.
Anyways, thats how I see it. The new sub pens are right across the bay from where I live now.
magician
10-28-2008, 03:50
There was a ton of money at stake in terms of "commissions" with that sub purchase. This sort of corruption is nothing new in Malaysia, or elsewhere in SEA for that matter. But that deal was large. Too large to permit a mere "translator" to possibly blow the lid off of it.
In some circles, this could be classified as "motive." Not to mention the possible public relations implications in an erstwhile "Islamic" country, where the DPM/MD is the presumed heir apparent. A sex scandal connecting him with this girl, particularly with that missing photograph as evidence, could be enough to thwart his accession to the premiership. Especially if the girl was alive, and giving interviews to the press. It would not be that difficult for investigators to follow other leads, especially in Paris, and to determine whether she was involved with just the think tanker, or with the DPM/MD as well.
Who knows the contents of the pillow talk between consenting adults? Whether this poor girl was literally in bed only with the think tank advisor, or with the DPM/DM as well, she clearly was no dummy. She was smart enough to learn English, Chinese, and who knows what else. She rose above humble origins. She was talented. The idiots with whom she shared her bed probably told her all kinds of bullshit, and she probably overheard a ton of other stuff in the form of cell phone conversations, or in the course of translating for meetings. Connecting the dots would not be difficult.
She was also not above using what she learned. She apparently engaged in extortion, and caused some very powerful (and possibly very amoral) people a great deal of discomfort. You have to wonder where she got the figure of $500k. Perhaps she knew exactly how much commission was to be siphoned off by the intervening consultant firms between the French and Malaysian governments. Maybe $500k was not such a huge chunk of it. Maybe she thought that it was an attainable figure. Maybe she thought that blowing the whistle on the corruption aspect of the deal would force the DPM/MD to agree to her demands. I do not think that there is any doubt that the political opposition in Malaysia would love to have more facts. She could have been in a position where she could have finished the career of Datuk Seri Najib.
It may be that the DPM/MD is only tangentially involved. It seems clearer that his advisor, the think tanker, was involved in this up to his neck. Apparently, he has confessed that he gave her between $20-30k USD in two or three tranches. That is serious money in this part of the world, and I think that it is a lot for a translator. It would not be too much for a "high society" girlfriend. It almost feels to me as though the think tanker was trying to buy this girl's silence cheaply. When this proved to be inadequate, his associates in the security element may have overstepped their boundaries, or they may have proceeded on a misunderstood hint, or they may have been acting under orders. The fact that such guys were available means that the think tanker and the DPM/MD had the "means" to kill her from a legal standpoint. The apparently established fact that the girl got into that car means that these people also had "opportunity."
Motive, means, opportunity. They are all there, and it is not a reach to put them together.
Myself, I tend to believe the worst of people. I would not be surprised to learn that this goes all the way to the top, and that Datuk Seri Najib gave an offhand order to his security detail to whack her. Their greatest mistake was in failing to completely dispose of all human remains. No body, no crime. It is much easier to coerce witnesses when there is no forensic evidence. It is much easier to craft a believable alternative sequence of events when there are no human remains. Apparently there was enough evidence left for a coroner to establish wrongful death and the mechanism of death. Very sloppy work.
I will be surprised if the Malaysian justice system conducts a trial which withstands international scrutiny.
I will be surprised if the Malaysian justice system conducts a trial which withstands international scrutiny.
I think, you have pretty much summarized the whole episode pretty accurately.
But, I get the impression, the DPM has gotten away with it because the man who brought up the evidence about him being implicated with the dead mongolian has now been arrested under the ISA and will be locked up for the next 2 years.
And the trial will be concluded this friday apparently.....I can't wait to see how this pans out.
magician
10-29-2008, 09:10
The other mistake that the conspirators made, aside from failing to completely dispose of the remains of this poor girl, was they failed to kill the killers.
This is an axiom of mob hits. You contract with out of town hitters, you erase all forensic evidence in the aftermath (even using a separate sweeper or team of sweepers to clean up the scene afterwards), and then you kill the killers.
No body, no crime.
No forensic evidence, no investigative trail to follow.
No killers left to flip in order to get to their principals....no way to follow traces back to the actual architects of the crime. If the killers were sloppy, and anything could ever be traced back to them, they would already be dead, and dead men do not talk.
Investigators might "know" who did it, but they certainly would not have any means of proving it in a court of law.
Under these circumstances, the political juice of the architects of the crime could be used much more softly and deftly to deflect investigators. After all, there are many other more readily solvable crimes. This one would not even be identifiable as a crime. A girl would simply vanish, some unidentified men would vanish (likely unnoticed by anyone), and that would be that. It would be one big question mark, never to be solved.
It is said that the place where the girl's body was dumped was infamous as a dumping grounds for death squads. If this is the case, you would think that the murderers would have more expertise in the disposal of human remains.
An incinerator is tough to beat. Followed by dispersal of ashes at sea.
Blowing her body up with hand grenades.... not the smartest move. That was the entire downfall of this thing. As was using the guys on the security detail of the DPM/MD in the first place. They should never have been involved.
I agree, however. Regardless of how inept these guys were, it appears that the DPM/MD will get away with this crime.
But I am not a betting man.
:)
Well, as expected, the prosecutors did a piss poor job and guess who got away scot free!
Link: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/10/31/nation/20081031084658&sec=nation
SHAH ALAM: Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda was acquitted Friday of the murder abetment charge in the murder case of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.
The judge ruled that the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against him.
C/Insp Azilah Hadri and Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar, members of the Special Action Squad (UTK), were ordered by to enter their defence against the murder charge.
Both of them chose to testify under oath.
Azilah and Sirul Azhar were charged with murdering Altantuya at Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor, between 10pm on Oct 19, 2006 and 1am the following day.
Abdul Razak was charged with abetting them in the murder of the beautiful 28-year-old translator.
He was seen leaving the court at 10.10am with his wife and daughter. He did not give a press conference outside the court building.
"I just want to go home," said Abdul Razak briefly to the press.
Azilah and Sirul Azhar were led out of the court building in handcuffs by police officers at 10.40am. They both had their faces covered. Azilah's fiancee refused to give any comments to the press.
It has been slightly over five weeks since the prosecution closed its case and the court is expected to decide on the fate of all three accused today.
The trial had gone on for 151 days from November 2006, during which 84 prosecution witnesses testified.
Yazid 'no longer a security threat'
Link: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/2425233/Article/index_html
KUALA LUMPUR: Suspected Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist Yazid Sufaat, allegedly linked to the Sept 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, has been released from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said Yazid, 43, was among six ISA detainees released.
The others were two Thais from Kumpulan Pemisah Thai, Muhammad Faizal and Anbalavan, Abdul Rahman and Muhamad Tarmizi, who aided foreign intelligence agencies, and Murad Sudin, who was linked to JI.
Except for Yazid, who was freed last month, the rest were released on Dec 4.
Syed Hamid was speaking to reporters after the Singapore Straits Times had reported that the government had recently released more than a dozen extremists linked to JI.
He said the six were released as they were no longer considered a threat to national security.
"They should be released as they are no longer a threat and will no longer pose a threat to public order or the security of the nation," he said at the Parliament lobby yesterday.
Yazid emerged as a key figure in JI's regional network because of his links to Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent who was convicted of conspiracy in the Sept 11 attacks.
Yazid hosted Moussaoui during his visit to Malaysia in September and October 2000.
Eight months earlier, he allowed Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, the two hijackers of the American Airlines aircraft that crashed into the Pentagon, to use his apartment.
Syed Hamid said Yazid was not detained because of any role in the Sept 11 attacks but for his involvement in JI.
"He was considered a threat because JI was trying to establish an Islamic government in the region. But now, he has been rehabilitated and can return to society."
Syed Hamid said with the release, there were 46 people still detained under the ISA -- 16 for links to JI, 13 linked to militant group Darul Islam Sabah, 10 for falsifying documents, the five Hindraf leaders and two who worked with foreign intelligence agencies.
"We free ISA detainees from time to time when we find that they are no longer a threat to national security. The government will not detain anyone longer than they deserve.
"Usually, people are detained for two years under the ISA but it depends on the recommendations of the detention centre's advisory board."
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