KL troops ready to monitor RP truce

KL troops ready to monitor RP truce

MALAYSIA: The Malaysian Armed Forces is ready to deploy officers to monitor a cease-fire between the Philippines and local Muslim separatists, local media reported on Sunday.

"The armed forces are always ready for whenever the government makes a decision. If the cabinet approves it, then we must be there. We are always prepared," deputy defense minister Shafie Apdal was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said this week that the Malaysian presence would "deter terrorist acts" and enable "an effective, durable cease-fire process" with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim separatist group.

Malaysia has been encouraging peace negotiations between the Philippines and the 12,500-strong MILF, which has waged a 25-year rebellion for an independent Islamic state in the southern third of the mostly Roman Catholic archipelago.

It has also been proposed that Malaysia lead a cease-fire monitoring team including agents from Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei and Libya. Manila suspended formal talks with the MILF earlier this year after an upsurge of bombings and raids on civilian targets by suspected MILF guerrillas. -- AFP

;AFP;ANJ; ANPAu..r.. Thailand-Myanmar-drugs Myanmar drugs lord under house arrest: Thai report JP/11/ASEAN

Drug lord under house arrest

THAILAND: Top Myanmar drug lord Wei Hseuh Kang has been placed under house arrest in the military-ruled country's northeastern town of Lashio, a Thai drug official said according to a report here on Sunday.

Wei, an ethnic Chinese leader of the Yangon-aligned United Wa State Army (UWSA) is one of the world's most notorious drug traffickers and is wanted by the United States, which has put a US$2 million reward on his head.

"Drug baron Wei Hseuh Kang is under house arrest in Lashio," the official from Thailand's Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) was quoted as saying in Sunday's Bangkok Post.

"He has not been formally arraigned. He is only restricted from activities," the official told the daily, adding that his trading company had also been closed.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has previously threatened to take Wei Hseuh Kang, who jumped bail in Thailand in 1990, dead or alive. In December 2001, Thai authorities seized property reportedly worth more than $2 million from him.

Wei's brother Wei Hseuh Tang, another UWSA leader, meanwhile reportedly faces trial in Yangon on drug trafficking charges, the official added without elaborating. -- AFP

;AFP;ANJ; ANPAu..r.. Singapore-crime-jaywalk Singapore lists jaywalking as a punishable offense JP/11/ASEAN

S'pore says jaywalking an offense

SINGAPORE: Pedestrians in Singapore caught walking across bus parking areas may land in jail under tough new rules to be imposed on Monday that hope to minimize accidents involving jaywalkers.

The city-state, known for imposing stiff fines for littering and spitting in public, said jaywalkers caught taking short cuts will face fines of up to S$500 (US$285) for their first offense.

They could also could wind up in court and be given penalties twice that or sentenced to three months in jail.

Repeat offenders could face a maximum $2,000 fine or six months in jail.

"This new offense was recently introduced in the Road Traffic Act, to deter jaywalking and to ensure public safety at bus interchanges and terminals," the Land Transport Authority said on its website.

"This was so as there were many accidents involving jaywalkers at bus interchanges."

Four people have been killed and 34 others injured in jaywalking accidents at bus stations in the last three years. -- AFP

;AFP;ANJ; ANPAu..r.. Vietnam-prostitution sched-feature Name and shame for Vietnamese bureaucrats in anti-prostitution dr JP/11/ASEAN

Hanoi enacts new law on vice

VIETNAM: Few have taken Vietnam's previous pledges to eradicate prostitution seriously, but new legislation could result in state employees caught with their pants down finding themselves in an unfamiliar and embarrassing position.

Under the new decree that came into force on July 1, the names of all civil servants, military and police personnel found to have frequented the services of a lady of the night will be passed on to their superiors for punishment.

In a country with 1.3 million state employees -- approximately one third of the working population -- civil servants account for 60 percent of prostitutes' customers, according to official figures.

"It is the first official decree on this matter and it is aimed at people who pay for sexual services and work in the public sector," said Vu Ngoc Thuy of the National Committee for the Progress of Women.

Those caught in the uncompromising act will face fines of between US$15 and $250 and be barred from promotion for a given period. Repeat offenders risk suspension. -- AFP