Malaysian PM confident Limbang issue will be resolved

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 -- Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is confident that the Limbang issue will be resolved once the demarcation work on the permanent Malaysia-Brunei border is completed.

The Letters of Exchange signed by leaders of both countries early this week would pave the way for the demarcation of the permanent border, the prime minister said in Cyberjaya, central Selangor state on Friday.

"We have signed the documents on what we have agreed," he told reporters after launching the headquarters for the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT).

He urged the people not to speculate on the matter.

Badawi was asked to comment on the issue following a statement by Brunei's Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Lim JockSeng, that the Limbang issue was never discussed during the meeting attended by leaders of both countries in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei.

Limbang, located on the banks of the Limbang River between the two halves of Brunei and covers an area of 3,978 sq km with a population of more than 40,000, was annexed by James Brooke, the first Rajah of Malaysian eastern Sarawak state, in 1890 to become the fifth division of Sarawak.