MANILA: Filipinos in Sabah were harassed into voting for the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, the sultanate of Sulu said. Abraham Idjirani, sultanate spokesman, said following the BN victory, they will have to strengthen their assertion that Sabah belongs to the sultanate of Sulu. “There was massive harassment of voters in Sabah,” he said. “They took advantage of the current issue in Sabah. Many Filipino voters who were identified as against BN were harassed. That contributed to their victory.” Idjirani said Razak’s opponent, Anwar Ibrahim, was sympathetic to the sultanate’s cause. “He seemed concerned,” he said.
Factory death toll hits 693
DHAKA: The death toll from the collapse of a garment factory complex in Bangladesh hit 693 yesterday after dozens more bodies were found in the rubble, nearly a fortnight after the disaster. Army spokesman Shahid Ahsan Bhuiyan said that the toll now stands at 693 but warned that it was likely to rise further as the recovery teams had only reached the fourth floor of the nine-storey building.
Officer killed in terror attack
ZAMBOANGA CITY: An army officer was killed while a soldier was wounded when they were ambushed by the Abu Sayyaf group yesterday afternoon in the hinterland of Basilan province, the military said. The two were attacked at about 2pm when they came back after a mission on civil-military operation to patch-up warring clans from a strife town, known as a bastion of the Abu Sayyaf group, said Rodrigo Gregorio, spokesman of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom). Gregorio said Major Kanong, died during the attack while one of his soldiers identified as Sabre was wounded.
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