JP/2/HILITE

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