INDONESIA: The body of top human rights activist Munir arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from the Netherlands on a Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) plane at about 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Two hours later the remains were flown aboard a Merpati plane to Munir's hometown of Malang, East Java, for burial at about 9 a.m. on Sunday.
Hundreds of Munir's colleagues and other activists met his body at the airport and joined his wife, Suciwati, in Malang to pay their last respects to the outspoken rights campaigner.
Among the entourage were noted political analyst Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, Indonesianist Jeffrey Winters, Indonesian Corruption Watch chairman Teten Masduki, former state secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak and former Alliance of Independent Journalists chairwoman and The Jakarta Post managing editor Ati Nurbaiti.
Munir died onboard a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam on Tuesday, about two hours before the plane landed at Schiphol Airport. He was flying to the Netherlands to pursue his master's degree.
The airport conducted an autopsy on his body in accordance with Dutch regulations. Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said The Hague had reported the autopsy was complete and had ruled Munir's death was not suspicious.
Munir is survived by his wife and one daughter. -- JP
;AP; ANPA ..u.. Malaysia-Bird Flu Malaysia finds more bird flu cases in outbreak area JP/2/HIGH
Malaysia finds more bird flu cases
MALAYSIA: Malaysia found new cases of bird flu Saturday in an infected area that had been under quarantine for three weeks, setting off a new round of culling poultry and screening people to contain the potentially deadly disease.
Health ministry officials said that one veterinary worker had been hospitalized with fever and cough. The worker was being held in isolation until tests are completed for bird flu.
Hawari Hussein, director-general of the Veterinary Department, said that inspectors had found about a dozen chickens and ducks dead in three villages from the H5 bird flu virus in the latest incidents.
"We have not found any human infection," Hawari said. "We will be doing active surveillance by going from house-to-house to check if anyone is sick." --AP
;AP; ANPA ..r.. Nepal-Rebel Attack Nepal steps up security after bombing at American center JP/2/HIGH
Nepal steps up security after bombing
NEPAL: Nepal heightened security around Western diplomatic missions Saturday, a day after suspected communist rebels bombed an American culture center minutes after it closed for the weekend.
No one was injured when two homemade bombs exploded Friday at the American Information Center in the capital, Katmandu, but parts parts of the building were damaged.
Home Ministry officials in Katmandu said extra police were deployed around Western embassies and other foreign agencies to prevent further attacks.
Police said they suspect Maoist rebels were responsible. No suspects have been detained and investigations continued Saturday. If the rebels were to blame, it would mark the first time that they directly attacked an American government target.
-- AP
;AFP; ANPAi..u.. HongKong-vote sched-lead Hong Kong election campaign enters last day with no clear victor JP/HONGKONG
Hong Kong campaigning ends
HONG KONG: Hong Kong goes to the polls on Sunday in a legislative election seen as a gauge of sentiment towards the city's rulers in mainland China and a referendum on its democratic aspirations.
Sunday's ballot will provide a focus for more than 14 months of strife sparked by huge street rallies last year critical of the Beijing-backed Hong Kong government and which heightened calls for universal suffrage.
China controversially quashed those calls -- a central plank of the democracy movement -- with a hardline ruling in April against introducing full elections by 2007, when the next leader must be selected.
Surveys by independent think-tank Civic Exchange and the Hong Kong University predict candidates who support the democratic cause will win up to 75 percent of the popular vote, but only 25 of the 60 seats.
When voters begin casting their ballots Sunday morning, analysts say many will be exercising their vote as a referendum on China's handling of the city after last year's rallies. --AFP
;AFP; ANPAi..u.. Taiwan-weather-flood Northern Taiwan hit by massive floods JP/2/HIGH
Northern Taiwan hit by massive floods
TAIWAN: Torrential rains triggered massive flooding in northern Taiwan Saturday, claiming at least one life and marooning hundreds of people at their homes.
One man was found dead in an underground passage in northern Taoyuan County early Saturday, becoming the first casualty of the flooding that started overnight, said a national fire agency official.
He added that there was no immediate report of other casualties or injuries.
In the low-lying town of Shichih, north of Taipei, water reached the first floor of many homes and forcing residents to retreat to higher ground.
Rescue workers braved downpours to evacuate people in inflatable boats to safety, but police said some 1,000 people were feared trapped in Shichih. --AFP
;AP; ANPA ..u.. Koreas-Nuclear URGENT JP/2/HIGH
N. Korea sticks to nuke programs
SOUTH KOREA: North Korea said on Saturday that South Korea's secret nuclear experiments involving uranium and plutonium make the communist state more determined to pursue its own nuclear programs, a news report said.
A spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry condemned the South Korean experiments, conducted in 1982 and 2000, as "clearly of military nature," according to Pyongyang's official news agency KCNA, quoted by South Korea's national news agency, Yonhap.
The recent revelations of those experiments will affect the prospects for six-nation talks aimed at persuading the North to abandon its nuclear weapons programs, the unidentified North Korean spokesman was quoted as saying.
"We strongly suspect that the United States may have masterminded the experiments that were clearly of military nature," he was quoted as saying. "We cannot but link these developments with the issue of holding six-party talks." --AP
;AP; ANPA ..r.. ME-GEN-Iraq-Blast Explosion occurs outside of U.S. consular office in southern Iraqi JP/
Explosion occurs outside of U.S. consular office in southern Iraqi city[ Eds: UPDATES with color, names of dead and wounded: CORRECTS to one of the wounded was in the car[ By ABBAS FAYADH= Associated Press Writer= BASRA, Iraq (AP) - An explosion occurred Saturday outside a former Saddam Hussein-era palace that houses a U.S. consular office, killing at least one person and wounding two others, police and witnesses said. A British spokeswoman, Alison Richie, said the target appeared to have been a civilian vehicle and that there were "unconfirmed reports" of American casualties. However, Iraqi police said the three victims were all Iraqis. In Baghdad, a U.S. Embassy official said U.S. authorities were still tracking down information about the explosion. Police Capt. Mushtaq Taleb said the bomb targeted a car owned by the National Security Co., a local company, killing the driver and wounding two people of which was in the car and another in the street. Blast walls near the former palace compound absorbed the brunt of the blast, witnesses said. The charred corpse could be seen in a car outside the building. The explosion carved a small 30 centimeter (one-foot) deep crater. Iraqi police and British troops blocked the street and were investigating the explosion. Taleb identified the man killed as Iraqi citizen Qasem Khallaf, and the wounded as Yas Khdayer and Israa Kamel. The explosion occurred just after 4 p.m. at the Basra Palace, which is now a British base, a British military spokeswoman said while speaking on condition of anonymity.
GetAP 1.00 -- SEP 11, 2004 22:36:09