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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-9/sabah-libya-sm.webp" alt="Libya Sabah connection" />
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The MNLF, founded by Nur Misuari, who remains its chairman, was conceptualized immediately after the 1968 revelation of Senator Ninoy Aquino in a privilege speech about the botched Oplan Merdeka that targeted the infiltration of Sabah to convince its population to work for a return to the Philippines.
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Then, up to now, MNLF seeks secession from the country through the formation of the <i>Bangsamoro Republik</i> that seeks to include Sabah.
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Documents obtained from whistleblower site WikiLeaks indicated that Sabah played a huge role in the rise of the Muslim secessionist movement in Mindanao in the 1970s when it was used as a transit point in the smuggling of arms from Libya to the southern Philippines.
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Declassified cables published by WikiLeaks stated that then Sabah chief minister Tun Mustapha facilitated the arms smuggling from Libya, which was ruled by military dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
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The arms were supplied to Mindanao to arm Moro rebels in the hope that it will force then President Ferdinand Marcos to abandon his determined effort to return Sabah to the Philippines.
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A communication dated April 17, 1976 quoted then Sabah chief minister Tun Fuad as saying that it was <i>"no secret"</i> that his predecessor, Mustapha, supplied arms to Muslim secessionists.
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According to the secret cable written by an unnamed American embassy official in Kuala Lumpur:
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"He said it was no secret that his predecessor, former chief minister Tun Mustapha, had been running guns and money from Libya's Gaddafi to the Philippine guerrillas."
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The American who was the source of the documents then stated that:
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 "Assistance has been provided to Filipino Muslim insurgents directly by Mustapha, by Libya and perhaps other Arab countries through Mustapha, and there is evidence of Government of Malaysia agencies collaborating with Mustapha."
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The US diplomat then added that Mustapha seemed to have resorted to arms smuggling following the revelation that Marcos planned a Sabah invasion.
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The legate also subscribed to Aquino's peddled myth called Jabidah massacre where supposedly up to 200 young Moros were murdered by state forces on 18 March 1968.
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According to the cable:
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"(Government of Malaysia's) involvement in the southern Philippines was triggered by evidence in 1968-69 that President Marcos was training Muslims for infiltration of Sabah (the Jabidah affair)." 
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The US official added the Sabah government would not stop arms smuggling unless Marcos gave up the Sabah claim.
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According to the cable:
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"The mission feels that while present Kuala Lumpur government may be less inclined to condone direct assistance to Moro rebels, the government of Malaysia (Mustapha) will not give up the possibility of extending such assistance until President Marcos publicly and categorically abandons the Philippine claim to Sabah."
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Upon discovering Marcos' plan to invade Sabah, Malaysia allegedly conspired with Moro secessionist groups to distract the Philippines from the Sabah claim, Abraham Idjirani, spokesman of the Jamalul Kiram III's sultanate, expounded on the revelation.
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Kiram's forces executed the quixotic 2013 Lahad Datu incursion that led to the death of more than 60 Tausug warriors, some of whom were MNLF members.
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Sabah then instigated an <i>"arms shipping"</i> from Libya to Sulu, Palawan and Mindanao to arm a group of young Moro soldiers, which came to be known as the MNLF, he added.
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After MNLF co-opted with the government, Sabah then veered their arms shipments to a breakaway group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Idjirani claimed. The MNLF signed a peace pact with the government in 1996. On the other hand, the MILF now administers the Bangsamoro autonomous region.
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Idjirani said:
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"The arms shipments were done to augment the power capacity of the MNLF in fighting against the Philippine government. When they co-opted with the Philippine government, Malaysia encouraged the MILF to fight against Philippine government."
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"It is Malaysia which created the Mindanao conflict so that the Philippine government could not focus their attention in pursuing their claim to Sabah." 
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Malaysia created Mindanao conflict to divert Philippines' attention in pursuing Sabah claim