Military exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines does not signify any shift in Malaysia's policy towards the Moro independence movement in southern Philippines, said Foreign Ministry officials.

They said intelligence-sharing between the armed forces is based on the need to tackle 'kidnappings and piracy' in the South China Sea.

This is also not out of any suspicion of Philippines' ambitions for Sabah, added the officials.

Certain quarters have speculated that the joint exercises, which will see the deployment of Malaysian intelligence personnel in Mindanao, will allow the government to keep tabs on the situation in Sabah.

On Monday, Malaysian and Philippine army chiefs announced that exercises would be conducted to counter terrorist activities and would include intelligence-sharing by liaison officers of both countries based in key cities in Sabah and Mindanao.

No shift

Yesterday, Foreign Ministry undersecretary in the Southeast Asia and Pacific Division Mohd Khalis Ali Hassan said this did not signify a change in Malaysia's stance as a neutral broker in the conflict between the Philippines and the sessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"There is no shift as far as bilateral relations between the governments or the militaries (of Malaysia and Philippines). This (cooperation) only enhances the relationship in helping all sides (to the conflict) reach an amicable solution to the conflict," he added when contacted..

He said Malaysia was not targetting MILF as part of a drive against terrorists and other armed groups operating in the troubled southern islands of the Philippines and the waters off Sabah, as the Malaysian government has "never listed MILF as a terrorist organisation".

Another ministry official described the cooperation of the two nations' militaries as a result of concern over the threat of kidnappings and piracy by criminal elements in the region, dismissing the suggestion that intelligence-sharing between the militaries of both countries derived from Malaysia's concern for the Philippines' long-standing claim over Sabah.

Rumors alleging there were efforts sponsored by the heirs to the Sulu Sultanate to mobilise Filipino Muslims as well as Sabahan locals to suppport the Philippines' claim over Sabah did not warrant any serious attention on the part of Malaysia, said the official who declined to be named.

"We are not at all overly concerned about Sabah. It is a weak legal stand on the Philippines' side... The fact that the Philippines have agreed to set up a consulate office in Sabah renders meaningless their claim," he added.

Successive Philippine administrations have intermittently claimed sovereignty over Sabah on grounds that the former British North Borneo territory had historically fallen within the jurisdiction of the Sultanate of Sulu in the southern Philippines.

Malaysia continues to pay a yearly lease of US$1,500 as part of the agreement inherited from the British colonial government in 1963 when Sabah was included as part of Malaysia.

'Infancy stages'

Director of the Kuala Lumpur-based Bangsamoro Research Center Zakaria Abdullah also saw no alarm in the announcement of cooperation between the Malaysian and Filipino militaries to conduct intelligence-sharing and counter-terrorist operations.

There is no suspicion that the 'terrorist label' would be placed on the independence movement as the Moros have a 'tacit' understanding with the Malaysian government, just as the latter has an understanding with the Philippine government, he told malaysiakini when met.

"Until the government of the Philippines fully drops the claim to Sabah, Malaysia cannot think of fully cooperating with the Philippine government against the (Moro) independence movement. The MILF is Malaysia's ace card," he said.

Dismissing the Sabah secession movement as still in its "infancy stages", Zakaria said that with the exception of the heir to the Sulu sultanate, the other sultans of Mindanao were opposed to the Philippines' claims over Sabah.

"All the other sultans in Mindanao, including those of Maimbung, Paticol, and Tawi are against the idea. What they are asking for is (for Malaysia) to revise its payment to the Sultanate so that it reaches the people in the form of aid or assistance," he added.

Another Filipino, who claims have seen first-hand efforts to reclaim Sabah for the Philippines' Sulu Sultanate, said the number of people involved with such moves were small as was their ability to affect the status quo.

"The Sultanate heirs are not in a position of strength, though they hope the Sabah issue is relegated first in priority (on the Philippine government's agenda with Malaysia)," he said on condition of anonymity.