KUCHING: Malaysia is ready to defend its sovereign territories if threatened by external parties making claims against any of them, especially Sabah, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
He said he believed some quarters would continue to seek opportunities to assert their claims despite their previous losses.
Therefore, he said, the government would ensure their claims are contested should they arise.
"Previously, we (the government) won at the tribunals in Spain and France.
"But they will not stop. Instead, they will go all over the world seeking any opportunity to make claims," he said after the Fajr & Run Subuh Macam Jumaat Programme at Al-Quddus Mosque, Taman Sri Wangi, today.
Fadillah, who is also the Energy Transition and Water Transformation minister and the minister responsible for Sabah and Sarawak affairs, said this when asked to comment on the latest claims on Sabah by a group from southern Philippines.
The group, identifying themselves as the United Tausug Citizens (UTC), claims to be the 'legitimate guardians of the Sulu Sultanate Territory' over Sabah.
They demanded that the Malaysian government make an immediate payment of US15 billion dollars (RM70.2 billion), which they claim is Cession Money.
The group also wants Malaysia to recognise UTC as a 'sovereign and independent government', threatening legal action against Malaysia in the United States.
Considering the persistent claims, Fadillah said, he believes there are parties financing the group.
"They have already lost in certain countries and are trying again in other countries. We will not let them, and God willing, we will prevail legally," he said.
Yesterday, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, stated that Malaysia does not entertain any form of trivial claims by UTC.
She said it was the latest trivial and unfounded attempt by a group to assert sovereignty over Malaysian territory and unjustly extort money from Malaysia.
