MANILA - The camp of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III on Wednesday insisted there's an alleged plot to kill the sultan, his adviser Pastor Boy Saycon of the Council of Philippine Affairs (COPA), and other supporters of the sultan.

Abraham Idjirani, the sultan's spokesman, claimed 8 people were hired to kill Kiram and his followers.

The hit squad allegedly includes 5 foreigners led by a colonel serving in the military forces "of an Asian country."

In a separate press conference, Indjirani named the hit squad group's alleged leader as a certain "Col. Sunny Ng" of the Malaysian Armed Forces.

Idjirani said the 5 assassins arrived Tuesday in the country.

He said the information was relayed by a former lawyer of Saycon, who is also a friend of a consultant of a foreign company that is allegedly behind the plot.

Security at the Kiram's house has been tightened because of the alleged kill plot.

Idjirani, meanwhile, protested the comparison made by President Aquino on the Sabah crisis and the Jabidah operation under then strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

He said the Sultanate of Sulu has historical right and claim to Sabah, and Malaysia up to now pays rent to them.

Idjirani also welcomed the call of the Indonesian government to resolve the Sabah issue peacefully and look into the alleged human rights abuse being done to Filipino refugees.

The Palace, meanwhile, dismissed the alleged slay plot.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on Wednesday dubbed the claim as a "tall tale".

In a press briefing, Lacierda read a text message from National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia on the alleged assassination plot.

"Verification made by the intelligence community has yielded negative results so far. A check conducted on the alleged presence of certain named individuals in certain hotels also came up with negative results. Verification is still going on but off hand, the intel community is giving this report a very low probability," the message read.