Journalists stationed in Lahad Datu, Sabah, to cover Ops Daulat have been told to refer to the Sulu intruders as 'terrorists' and to stop referring to the Sulu sultan by his title.
The Sabah Security Committee, chaired by Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, issued the order this morning without giving reasons.
The brief notice read, "Use the term 'terrorist' instead of 'intruder'; Don't use the term 'sultan' as if we recognise the fact."
Yesterday, Bernama had quoted Ahmad Maslan, the deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department, as saying that the intruders who have terrorised others should not be likened to a respectable group like an army.
"Stop referring to that terrorist group as the royal army of the Sulu sultanate ... it is also inappropriate to link the Sulu community in Sabah with the group," he said at a meeting with Suluk community leaders in Lahad Datu on Saturday night.
"Evil has nothing to do with race. One can be evil because of greed, power greedy, with shallow religious faith and possess animalistic character."