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

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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

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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