ASEAN lifts moratorium for security forum
ASEAN lifts moratorium for security forum
CAMBODIA: ASEAN has lifted a longstanding moratorium on membership to the Asia-Pacific region's top security forum and will push for Pakistan's inclusion, a minister said on Monday.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is the prime mover of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
The ARF, formed a decade ago with a mandate to help maintain regional peace and stability, also comprises Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, South Korea, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States.
The proposal to include Pakistan will be formally forwarded for consideration to foreign ministers of the 23 ARF members, who will meet in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, officials said. --AFP
;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thai-Security Thais arrest fifth suspected militant JP/11/ASEAN
Thais arrest fifth suspected militant
THAILAND: Thai authorities have arrested a local Muslim man suspected of links with overseas militants following the arrest of four suspected Jamaah Islamiyah members in the past month, the interior minister said on Monday.
Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said an Islamic religious teacher had been arrested in the predominantly Muslim southern province of Satun, 1,271 km from Bangkok. He said the man was arrested over the weekend.
Police last week arrested a religious teacher, his son and a medical doctor, charging them with conspiring to harm the interests of foreign nations, attempting to assault dignitaries of foreign states and involvement with criminal syndicates.
Last month they arrested a Singaporean man on similar charges and sent him to the island state for interrogation. --Reuters
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Cambodia-killing Member of Hun Sen's party killed JP/11/ASEAN
Member of Hun Sen's party killed
CAMBODIA: An avid supporter of Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party has been killed in the latest violence during the run-up to general elections, police said on Monday.
Two unidentified men gunned down Mom Piseth, 35, as he drove a motorcycle home from a birthday party on Sunday night, said Mom Sovath, a Phnom Penh district police chief. The gunmen exchanged fire with police before fleeing.
The motive of the killing appeared to be a "personal dispute not politics," Mom Sovath said.
But he and his deputy, Chuop Sok Heng, said that one day before the killing Mom Piseth had a brawl with his in-laws, who are affiliated with the Liberal Democratic Party - one of the 23 parties registered to compete in the July 27 election.
More than a dozen activists opposing Hun Sen's party have been slain in the past seven months. --AP