The standoff in Lahad Datu must end today, despite the Philippine government's request for a deadline extension after an earlier deadline expired on Feb 22.

NONE Malaysia's Foreign Minister Anifah Aman ( right ) was reported as saying this in the English-language daily The Star today. He added he hoped the standoff would end peacefully.

The daily said Anifah's Filipino counterpart Albert del Rosario had asked for the deadline to be extended to Tuesday.

This is to allow the Philippine government more time to persuade the leader of the armed group holed up in Kampung Tanduo, Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, to call off the standoff.

The daily said the decision echoed Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein's earlier statement that he wanted the standoff to "end sooner rather than later" without bloodshed, and his ministry would leave it to security forces to conduct an operation to put it to an end.

However, the report makes no mention of what action would be taken if the latest deadline lapses too.

The daily also quoted Hishammuddin as saying that the Lahad Datu incident was different from Malaysia's previous armed standoffs with Al-Maunah, Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiah because it is perpetrated by a group claiming to be descendants of the Sulu Sultanate.

The purportedly armed group of over 100 landed in Kampung Tanduo on Feb 9, seeking to lay claim to Eastern Sabah. They have been surrounded by the Malaysian army and police since.

Meanwhile, in Manila, The Star noted that political pressure has been mounting on the Philippine government to resurrect its long-dormant claim to Sabah, even as it tries to persuade Jamalul to order his followers to stand down.