Peace Rally Held To End Standoff In Sabah

TAGUIG, PHILIPPINES - MARCH 06: Self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III gestures during a press conference at his house on March 6, 2013 in Taguig, Philippines. Fighting has broken out anew in the village of Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia as Malaysian security forces comb the coastal areas where the "Royal Sultanate Army of Sulu" was thought to have been hiding. Around 200 armed followers of Kiram in the restive southern provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in Mindanao crossed over to neighboring Sabah last February 12 to lay claim to territory as ancestral land, triggering clashes with Malaysian security forces. Philippine diplomatic officials confirmed yesterday that security forces in Malaysia have conducted airstrikes and ground assault on the "royal army" of the Sultanate of Sulu in Lahad Datu, Sabah. A total of 17 followers of self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III and eight Malaysian security forces were killed in the villages of Lahad Datu and Semporna in Sabah. (Photo by Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)