JP/2/HILITE

Police HQ bomber arrested

INDONESIA: The police have arrested a former police officer, identified as Adj. Comr. Anang Sumpeno, for bombing Wisma Bhayangkari, a building located in the compound of the National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta, city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said on Saturday.

Prasetyo said Anang, a former member of the National Police bomb squad, was arrested in his rented room in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta, early on Saturday.

Anang was believed to have carried out the crime due to bitterness. He was involved in a drug case in 2000 while studying at the Police Science Institute. As a result he could not continue his studies and had no position at the police. The suspect then deserted from the police.

Anang constructed a low-explosive bomb and put it in a black bag. The bomb, placed near a flower pot in the front yard of Wisma Bhayangkari, exploded on Feb. 3, destroying the front part of the building. No fatalities were reported. -- JP

NGOs fight for maid's rights

SINGAPORE: A group of Singaporean activists have banded together to protect the wealthy island nation's foreign maids from abusive employers, an organizer said Saturday.

Two high-profile cases of maid abuse last year prompted some 25 activists to form the group called The Working Committee 2, said founder Braema Mathi.

Last July, Singaporean Ng Hua Chye, 47, was sentenced to 18 1/2 years in prison for killing his 19-year-old Indonesian maid.

In another case, a local employer was sentenced to five years behind bars for biting off her teenage Indonesian maid's nipple.

The group will launch an advertising campaign in March to educate Singaporeans about the reality of domestic workers' lives and to encourage them to respect maids' basic rights, Mathi said. -- AP

Japan's baby princess on the move

JAPAN: Japan's littlest royal, Princess Aiko, is fast learning to walk, talk and even dance, the Imperial Household Agency said Saturday.

In official footage broadcast by major TV networks, the 14- month-old princess tottered around a play room and punched buttons on a CD player as she bobbed her head to music at Togu Palace - the official residence of Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife, Masako.

She is now able to speak a few words, such as "panpan" for bread and "manma" for her mother, an agency official said on condition of anonymity.

As the only child to the royal heir, Aiko's birth in December 2001 generated intense debate over whether Japan's men-only succession law should be changed to allow her to one day ascend the throne. -- AP

Israeli tank in flames

ISRAEL: An Israeli army tank ran over a large roadside bomb on Saturday and burst into flames near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Israeli security sources and Palestinian witnesses said.

It was not immediately known how many soldiers were inside the tank and whether there were any casualties. The Israeli army refused immediate comment.

The military wing of Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement faxed to Reuters.

Hamas has spearheaded a 28-month-old Palestinian militant uprising against Israel for a state in Gaza and the West Bank.

Palestinian witnesses said the tank burst into flames after several explosions in the area near the fortified Jewish settlement of Dugit at the northern end of the desert strip that skirts the Mediterranean Sea. -- Reuters

Ariane-4 launches INTELSAT

FRENCH GUIANA: The final mission of Europe's Ariane-4 rocket series placed a telecommunications satellite into orbit on Saturday, ending a 116-rocket launch career for the reliable workhorse, space officials said.

The rocket, carrying a satellite for global operator INTELSAT, had been delayed for three days due to bad weather, Arianespace officials said at the launch site in French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America.

First launched in 1988, Ariane-4 has flown 115 times and failed only three times. Since 1994, the rocket has had a streak of 74 consecutive successful launches.

But Arianespace decided to stop production of Ariane-4 because the rocket can only launch communications satellite payloads with a maximum weight of five metric tons, seen as insufficient for current market demands. -- Reuters

U.S. expels Iraqi reporter

UNITED NATIONS: The United States has ordered the New York-based UN correspondent of the state Iraqi News Agency to leave the United States, U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Friday.

Washington gave INA correspondent Mohammad Hassan Allawi and his family 15 days to leave the country.

Allawi was told to leave "because he has engaged in activities considered to be harmful to the security of the U.S.," a U.S. official said.

"Those activities constitute an abuse of the privileges of residence in this country," said the official, who would not say what the alleged violations were.

Allawi, 38, has been the INA correspondent at the UN for two years. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and five children, aged 8 to 16, who attend New York public schools. -- Reuters

Dolly dies at age 6

UNITED STATES: She may not have been exactly one of a kind but Dolly the sheep, the first cloned adult mammal, was definitely unique.

Dolly, aged 6, was put to sleep by veterinarians on Friday after they failed to cure her of a severe lung infection, her creators said.

Dolly's birth in July 1996 was kept secret for months while her creators at the Roslin Institute and PPL Therapeutics Plc., a tiny biotech company in Edinburgh, Scotland carefully checked her lineage. The announcement of her birth, in February 1997, sent shockwaves around the world.

Now cloning of farm animals has become almost routine and headlines were made this week when the offspring of some cloned pigs made it to market. Cloned animals are being bred to produce human proteins for medicine, and for meat.

But no one would have dreamed of slaughtering Dolly, or any of her lambs. -- Reuters

US extends registration

UNITED STATES: The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday temporary visitors from seven nations will get four more weeks to register under an anti-terrorism program that has been criticized for unfairly targeting Middle Eastern men.

It said the extension covered males who are 16 or older and nationals of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan and Kuwait, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Most individuals required to register are students, present on extended business travel or visiting family members for a prolonged period, the department said. Arab and immigration groups and some foreign nations have complained that Middle Eastern men have been unfairly singled out.

The Justice Department said the Immigration and Naturalization Service believed the extension would be "appropriate" to assist some of the visitors in completing the registration requirements. -- Reuters

Fetuses stolen for worship

THAILAND: A man arrested for suspected involvement in the theft of preserved human fetuses and skulls from a Thai medical museum had intended to use the items in superstitious worship, news reports said Saturday.

The specimens, including a pair of Siamese twin fetuses, disappeared from the museum at Thailand's oldest medical school last month after having been displayed for years.

Kittisak Laoprasert, 28, told police he had conspired to steal the items in the belief they would bring him good luck, as had previous fetuses and skulls that he bought from a Thai dealer, according to several media reports.

"After I bought the (previous) fetuses, I kept them in a bag and paid my respects every day," Kittisak was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying.

"Since then I have won lottery prizes and received money back from my debtors." -- AFP