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Malaysia to determine status of 100 islands: minister |
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Posted by admin
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Monday, 09 June 2008 20:51 |
Agence France-Presse
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia plans to determine the sovereignty of 100 islands around the country after an international court handed neighbouring Singapore a strategic islet, a minister said Monday.
The International Court of Justice last month affirmed Singapore's sovereignty over Pedra Branca, known as Pulau Batu Puteh in Malaysia, triggering fears that more unoccupied islands could be up for grabs.
"There are about 100 islands and formations in our country which need to be mapped and have their status determined," Foreign Minister Rais Yatim told reporters.
He said the islands were located in seas off Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneo island -- which Malaysia shares with Indonesia -- as well off the coasts of northern Kedah state near Thailand and Johor which lies near Singapore.
"I have asked for a report to be submitted to Cabinet on the issue and that action be taken to verify each island as Malaysian property," Rais added.
The ICJ found that the Malaysian sultanate-turned-province of Johor had held the original title to tiny Pulau Batu Puteh, but had not taken any action on Singapore's lighthouse operations there for more than a century.
Rais' comments came after newspaper reports aired fears that other islands such as Pulau Pisang, located in the strategic Malacca Straits, could also be claimed by Singapore.
The island republic also operates a lighthouse on that island as part of an agreement signed by the state's ruler and earlier British colonial authorities in 1900, although the island remains in Malaysian territory.
Rais said the government would investigate how it could take over administration of the facility.
"We will do some homework first regarding the agreement prevailing over the lighthouse because as you can imagine, the situation is bound by history and we would like to do some homework."
The resolution of Pulau Batu Puteh's sovereignty is the one of many bilateral issues that have plagued relations between the neighbours, which have been tense since Singapore left the Malaysian Federation in 1965.
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That's how he said that when we lost Pulau Batu Putih ooops Pedra Branca! The middle finger ooops rock was basically 2 dots in the sea! He can still create win-win situation on that! 
