(Bernama) - Jamalul Kiram III, who is masquerading as the sultan of Sulu and whose followers have intruded into Sabah and killed Malaysian police personnel, cannot lay claim to the defunct title, according to a source familiar with the goings-on in the family.

It is, therefore, wrong for him to assert to be the heir to the last sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram II, who died in 1936.

Jamalul Kiram III was never a legitimate descendant of the nine "rightful heirs" of Jamalul Kiram II that was drawn up in the 1939 'Macaskie Judgement' to be eligible to receive cession payments, following the ceding of Sabah, then known as North Borneo, to the British North Borneo Company (BNBC).

The source, who has indepth knowledge of the Sulu "sultanate" household and its history, stressed that according to the family tree, although Jamalul Kiram III was a member of the household, he was never a descendent of the nine principal heirs who had the right to the cession payments.

"When Jamalul Kiram II died in 1936, he left no direct heir, and BNBC also stopped the cession payments. So, the nine had gone to court as a group to recognise their right to receive the annual payment," the source said.

In 1939, the Chief Justice of the High Court of North Borneo, Justice Macaskie, ruled in the heirs' favour and the annual payment resumed. The Malaysian Government has continued with the payment, following the formation of the federation.

In 2011, descendants of the nine principal heirs to Jamalul Kiram II obtained an order from a Sulu court to recognise them as the legitimate direct descendents to the nine principal heirs.

This second generation of the heirs are Dayang Dayang Piandao Taj-Mahal Kiram-Tarsum Nuqui, Putli Nurhima Kiram-Forman, Siti Ayesha K.H Sampang, Sulatan Fuad A. Kiram, Dayang-Dayang Sheramar T. Kiram, Princess Permaisuri Kiram Guerson and Sitti Jenny K.A Sampang.

"As such, he (Jamalul Kiram III) cannot claim to be an heir or descendent of any of the nine principal heirs," the source contended.