evidence: About 200 armed Filipinos, followers of Jamalul Kiram III, the self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu, entered a town in Lahad Datu district of Malaysia’s Sabah state on February 11, sparking an ongoing conflict with Malaysian security forces that has tensions running high on both sides of Sulu Sea. The men, led by the sultan’s brother, are pressing their ancestral claim to an area of northern Borneo that has been disputed by Malaysia and the Philippines since independence. Both the Filipino and Malaysian publics have been critical of their respective governments’ handling of the conflict and disapprove of the escalating violence. There are concerns in some quarters that Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia will postpone the date of its highly anticipated general elections because of the volatile environment in Sabah. The province, with its large immigrant population and diverse demographics, is one of the most politically contested areas in Malaysia. So far, it appears that the conflict will not affect ongoing peace talks between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which Malaysia is mediating. [...] A1: About 200 armed men from the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines arrived in Sabah by motorboat and occupied a town in Lahad Datu on February 11, catching the Malaysian and Philippine governments by surprise. Both governments urged the gunmen to leave peacefully, and Malaysia gave the group a series of deadlines to comply, the last of which ended at midnight on February 27.