KL nabs another JI terror suspect
KL nabs another JI terror suspect
MALAYSIA: Malaysian police have detained another suspected member of an al-Qaeda-linked regional terror group blamed for the Bali bombing last October, police said on Friday.
Mohamad Amin Musa, 29, was picked up on Sunday in southern Johor state and was being held under the country's Internal Security Act as a Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) suspect, a police spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
The organization aims to create a regional Islamic state and is blamed for last year's Bali bombing in neighboring Indonesia which killed more than 200 people, mostly Western tourists.
Members of JI's senior leadership including Southeast Asia's most wanted man, Muslim cleric Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali, are believed to have close links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. --AFP
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-RP-Migration Office International Organization for Migration to expand Manila office JP/11/ASEAN
IOM to expand Manila office
PHILIPPINES: The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which assists migrants and refugees around the world, will transfer some of operations from its Geneva headquarters to Manila, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
Under an agreement signed on Thursday by Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople and IOM regional representative Bruce Reed, IOM will expand its Manila office, which serves as its information technology and administrative support center.
The move will facilitate collaboration between the government and IOM on initiatives concerning the welfare of Filipino migrants, especially the plight of Filipino workers in the Middle East if war in Iraq breaks out, the Philippine foreign affairs said in a statement.
IOM provided major assistance to Filipino workers in the Middle East during the 1991 Gulf War. The intergovernmental body assists in humane and orderly migration of peoples and refugees and has 98 member states and 33 observers. --AP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Cambodia-king Cambodia's King Sihanouk arrives in China for medical checks JP/11/ASEAN
King Sihanouk arrives in China
CHINA: King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Monineath arrived in Beijing on Friday where they will undergo medical tests and treatment expected to last several months, the Cambodian embassy said.
Before his departure from Phnom Penh, Sihanouk told reporters: "My wife and I have some health problems and the Chinese doctors asked us to go there (to Beijing) for check-ups, that is why I wish to get a permission from my beloved people to go there for medical tests."
He said it was unlikely they would return to Cambodia in time for the Khmer new year in April, but hoped it would be prior to national elections in July.
Sihanouk, 80, has been suffering from colon cancer and diabetes for years. He visits China about every six months for checks. Last Saturday the king said results of blood tests had shown he had a lung ailment and that his wife, 66, had a serious health problem that required urgent checks in China. --AFP
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thailand-Cambodia Cambodian smuggling suspects killed by Thai troops JP/11/ASEAN
Two Cambodians killed in Thailand
THAILAND: Thai paramilitary troops fatally shot two Cambodian men suspected of stealing motorcycles in Thailand and smuggling them to neighboring Cambodia, a police official said on Friday.
The unidentified victims, believed to be in their early 30s, allegedly failed to stop at a checkpoint on a jungle road in the Buachet district of Surin province, 340 kilometers northwest of Bangkok.
The troops called police after the shooting, a local officer said on condition of anonymity. He said the victims had been carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and a Chinese-made hand grenade.--AP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-S'pore-military Prepare for war if you want peace: Singapore defense chief JP/11/ASEAN
'Prepare for war if we want peace'
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Defense Minister Tony Tan on Friday rejected suggestions to trim the city-state's defense spending, saying a strong military is key to deterring potential aggressors and fighting terrorism.
"Adequate defense spending is the insurance premium we have to pay for peace. We have to invest in defense so that we do not need to go to war," said Tan, who is one of two deputy prime ministers.
"If we want peace, we have to prepare for war. This is the basis of our policy of deterrence," he said during a parliamentary debate on the budget.
Tan was responding to a suggestion from one MP that less spending on defense will lead to greater chances for peace. --AFP