ASEAN to hold anti-terror exercises

ASEAN to hold anti-terror exercises

MALAYSIA: Southeast Asian army chiefs have agreed to hold
regional multilateral exercises to boost efforts in fighting
terrorism, Malaysia's army chief said on Monday.

"The training will no longer be restricted to two countries,
like between Malaysia and Indonesia or Thailand, but will be
multilateral in nature," Gen. Mohamed Shahrom was quoted as
saying by Bernama news agency.

This new form of cooperation in fighting terrorism was agreed
at a meeting of army chiefs from the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur last week, he
said.

The generals also agreed that the exchange of intelligence
among armies in the region should be improved to fight terrorism
more effectively. -- AFP

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Philippines' Cardinal Sin retires
JP/11/ASEAN

Philippines' Cardinal Sin retires

PHILIPPINES: Cardinal Jaime Sin, the hugely influential spiritual
leader of the Philippine Roman Catholics, has retired at the age
of 75, the Vatican's representative office in Manila said on
Monday.

Pope John Paul II has nominated Gaudencio Rosales, the
archbishop of nearby Lipa city, "as successor to the See of
Manila," said Father James Reuter, spokesman for the apostolic
nunciature here.

The unfortunately named Cardinal Sin wielded his enormous
influence in this Southeast Asian nation of 80 million people,
Asia's biggest Catholic outpost, to usher out corruption-tainted
Filipino presidents over the past 18 years.

After using his office as shepherd of Manila's faithful to
criticize Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship, the cardinal called
hundreds of thousands of civilians into the streets in February
1986, helping convince Marcos to resign and flee into U.S. exile.

In January 2001, the cardinal was also a rallying figure for a
military-backed popular revolt that ousted Joseph Estrada after
Congress impeached the democratically elected leader for alleged
corruption. -- AFP

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WHO-led inquiry begins into SARS case
JP/11/ASEAN

WHO-led inquiry begins into SARS case

SINGAPORE: A team of international experts is investigating how a
Singapore lab worker caught SARS and how to prevent it from
happening again, the health minister said on Monday.

The ministry said the researcher is recovering steadily and
will be discharged from hospital on Wednesday. He will then
undergo 14 days of home quarantine, it added.

Acting Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said the 11-member team
-- comprised of local specialists as well as four experts from
the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Atlanta-based Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention -- met on Monday morning to
define the scope of the inquiry.

The team is expected to complete their investigations this
week, and will make recommendations on bio-safety practices and
standards in Singapore, the ministry said in a statement. -- AP

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Hun Sen criticized for moves against opponents
JP/11/ASEAN

Hun Sen criticized for moves

CAMBODIA: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's decision to sack 17
government officials from the royalist Funcinpec party is
unlawful and will aggravate a stalemate over forming a new
government, his opponents charged on Monday.

Hun Sen fired the officials on Friday, accusing them of
engaging in partisan politics to prevent him from remaining prime
minister in the next government. He warned that other Funcinpec
loyalists could face the same fate.

Funcinpec spokesman Neou Kassie called the dismissals
"unlawful" and a breach of an agreement made when it joined Hun
Sen's Cambodian People's Party in a coalition government in 1998.

Hun Sen's party won a majority of National Assembly seats in
the July 27 general elections, but fell short of the two-thirds
majority legally required to form a government on its own. -- AP