Filipino mission to leave for Iraq

Filipino mission to leave for Iraq

PHILIPPINES: A 96-member humanitarian mission from the
Philippines is to leave for Kuwait on Thursday en route to being
deployed in Iraq, Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said on Wednesday.

The group is the first batch of an 178-man contingent to be
sent as a contribution to a United Nations-led effort to help
revive Iraq after the fall of strongman Saddam Hussein, Ople
said.

A U.S.-chartered commercial flight is to ferry the Filipinos
soldiers, police and doctors and their equipment first to Kuwait
ahead of their deployment to Iraq.

The Filipinos will mainly be involved in civic and community-
related missions, including training for local police and helping
out in efforts to rebuild infrastructure. --AFP

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Aglance-Thai-Afghanistan
Thailand to send air force unit to Afghanistan
JP/11/ASEAN

Bangkok sends air force to Kabul

THAILAND: Thailand will send an air force unit of 34 officers to
provide security to Thai soldiers working in war-torn
Afghanistan, a cabinet statement said on Wednesday.

The cabinet approved a request by the defense ministry to send
the officers in response to the increasingly difficult security
situation in Afghanistan, it said.

Thailand sent 90 engineers, 12 medics and 18 special warfare
officers and coordinators to Afghanistan for a six-month mission
to repair Bagram air base outside Kabul beginning on April 1.

The new unit of officers will provide escort security for the
engineers as they fly between Bagram and other areas, and for
their commanders during inspection trips from Thailand.
The Bagram air base north of Kabul was a focal point in the
fighting that ravaged Afghanistan for decades. --AFP

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Aglance-S'pore-crime
University lecturer killed in front of colleagues in shock Singap
JP/11/ASEAN

Lecturer killed before colleagues

SINGAPORE: A technician killed a university lecturer in Singapore
on Wednesday by slashing his neck with a paper cutter in front of
horrified staff members during a meeting, police said.

The lecturer, identified by broadcaster Channel NewsAsia as a
Malaysian who had taught at the National University of
Singapore's engineering department for 20 years, died at a
hospital an hour after the attack.

Police said in a statement the suspect, a technician who
worked at the university, had been arrested and would be charged
in court on Friday.

The statement said police were investigating the case as
murder but did not specify what the suspect would be charged
with. The suspect entered a conference room where a management
meeting was in progress, the statement said. --AFP

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Aglance-RP-Coup Attempt
Mutiny leader denies he and other rebel soldiers plotted to oust
JP/11/ASEAN

Mutineer denies plot to oust Arroyo

PHILIPPINES: A leader of last month's failed military uprising
denied on Wednesday that he and other renegade soldiers tried to
oust President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, saying he tried to warn
her of a planned coup but was ignored.

Navy Lt. Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes said he and other
military men took over the upscale Oakwood residential building
and an adjoining mall in a desperate attempt to inform the public
of widespread corruption in the military and avoid arrest.

Trillanes told an independent commission looking into the July
27 uprising that he met Arroyo at the presidential palace on July
13 to inform her of military corruption and an intelligence
report of a brewing coup. Instead of paying attention, an angry
Arroyo allegedly suspected he was part of a planned uprising and
ordered him detained, he said.

It was the first time the 32-year-old Trillanes, who wore a
white uniform, appeared in public after being detained and
charged with more than 300 middle-rank officers and soldiers
following the uprising. His testimony was carried live on
nationwide TV.--AP