Ramping up the pressure

August address: Mohamad Hasan talking to his Palestinian counterpart, Dr Riyad Maliki, before reading out Malaysia’s statement at the UN Security Council open debate. — Facebook.com/TokMatHasan

THIS has been an interesting week on the local front, and one big news item is the Madani government’s decision to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to scrutinise issues relating to the sovereignty of Pedra Branca (Batu Puteh), Batuan Tengah (Middle Rocks) and South Ledge (Tubir Selatan) which was brought by Malaysia and Singapore before the Inter-national Court of Justice (ICJ) for a decision on their territorial sovereignty.

Many Malaysians would also recall that another sovereignty dispute with Indonesia brought before the world court was the Sipadan and Ligitan case.