Lahad Datu: ICJ recognises Sabah as part of Malaysia, says Bar

PETALING JAYA: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has recognised Malaysia’s rights and sovereignty over Sabah and its surrounding islands in its decision on a territorial dispute involving Ligitan and Sipadan in 2002, said the Malaysian Bar. Its vice-president Christopher Leong said that although the Philippines had not been a party in the dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia, it was clear in the ICJ’s judgement on Dec 17, 2002, that the Sulu Sultanate did not have a legitimate claim to Sabah.

History, he said, had shown that the Sulu Sultanate had, during several incidents between April 19, 1851, and June 26, 1946 “relinquished and ceded all of its rights” over Sabah.