Philippines

Here is a Q&A on the Lahad Datu situation, prepared by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and released March 6.

1. What transpired in the discussions between Secretary del Rosario and the Malaysian officials?

The Secretary, in pursuing a peaceful resolution, has been in contact on a daily basis with the Foreign Minister and other officials of Malaysia. The trip to Malaysia is consistent with that effort. During this particular trip, the Secretary continued seeking the exercise of maximum tolerance to avert further loss of lives. The Secretary also followed up on the Philippines’ requests for a full briefing on the situation, for clearance for the Philippine Navy ship to proceed to Lahad Datu and for humanitarian and consular services to be made available to the Filipinos in Lahad Datu.

Marzuki Darusman, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea

Many worrying stories abound concerning North Korea: the practice of forced labor, the specter of hunger gripping the country, severe curtailment of citizens freedom of movement and a cruel government. On the other hand, providing hard evidence to support these rumors is another matter entirely. This communist country is a closed book and one very difficult to penetrate. This hard task has fallen to Marzuki Darusman, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea since 2010.

Marzuki has visited North Korea twice while he was a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives, in 1987 and in 1998. He has shaken hands with Kim Il-sung, the father of the current North Korean leader, Kim Jung-un. "The capital city of Pyongyang is like a clinic, (everything so very) clean," said Marzuki, when he paid Tempo a visit last Tuesday.

Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III:

After deciding to end the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, US President Barack Obama announced that the future of world politics would be determined in the Asia-Pacific region. This area is considered so vital to American interests today that one-fifth of its military might has been deployed to the Pacific command (PACOM). In fact, 60 percent of the US Navy is under PACOM. According to PACOM commander, Admiral Samuel J.Locklear III, the shift in focus is a rebalance of the US role in this region.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi:

With general elections just within sight, Malaysia stands at an important crossroad. The people are faced with two choices: to remain with the current power, or form a new government with the opposition. Like a boxing match, there are only two political forces in Malaysia today, and that is the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition controlled by the ruling UMNO party, versus the Pakatan Rakyat opposition party, led by Anwar Ibrahim.

After Anwar was absolved of sodomy charges in January 2012, the group of dissenters began their attack on the party in power. Public protests challenging government policies took place more frequently, from the Bersih movement and more recently, to the People's Awareness Association (Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat), which claimed to have mobilized 500,000 people to demonstrate on the streets of Kuala Lumpur on January 12.