Monday, Apr 29, 2013
Manila: The daughter of the self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, whose royal Filipino-Muslim family has been claiming Sabah by sending a guerilla force there, married an Army man, her boyfriend of several years, a local paper said.
Jacel Kiram, 111, and Army Major Mohammad Yusop Hassan got married in a simple, private wedding that was attended by close family members and friends at the Garden Orchid Hotel in Zamboanga City, southern Philippines, on Sunday, the Star said.
The wedding was a simple function out of respect for the dead members of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu who were killed in clashes with the Malaysian police in Tanduao village, Lahad Datu, starting March 5, said the 35-year-old bride, the eldest daughter of Kiram and his second wife, Fatima Cellah.
“We are aware that the families of our fallen royal army and sultanate members and other civilians from Sulu continue to mourn the unfortunate incidents,” she said, adding that she and her boyfriend planned this wedding ahead of the start of the conflict in Sabah.
The Sultan of Sulu “decided to forgo the [Filipino-Muslim’s] tradition of a dowry of one island for a princess of Sulu,” the sultanate’s spokesperson, Abraham Idjirani, told the Star, adding, “It’s up to the groom to decide what will be his dowry for the princess.”
The Kiram family also wanted the wedding to be simple, said Idjirani.
Sulu Governor Yusoph Jikiri, Pastor Boy Saycon (Mutahmeen), the political adviser of the Sultan of Sulu, and Sitti Khrisna, Idjirani’s wife, were the wedding sponsors.
Kiram’s husband is a Tausug, the ethnic group of Filipino Muslims who went to Sabah as guerilla fighters to press the royal family’s claim on the island.
Sultan Jamalul Kiram allowed his brother Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram and 200 followers to stay in Tanduao village in Lahad Datu in early February. Clashes in early March resulted in the death of more than 90 Filipino-Muslims and 10 Malaysian policemen. About 100, most of them civilians and suspected relatives and supporters of the Kirams, were arrested by authorities in Lahad Datu.
By Barbara Mae Dacanay Bureau Chief
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
