King's brother's passport seized

King's brother's passport seized

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Kuala Lumpur has ordered the confiscation of the passport of the brother of the king of Malaysia in punishment for visiting Israel, Premier Mahathir Mohamad was yesterday reported as saying.

Mahathir said the cabinet decided on Wednesday to seize the passport of Prince Abdullah Rahman, who admitted on July 16 that he went on a three-day trip last month to investigate business possibilities in Israel.

"The weekly cabinet meeting discussed the issue although it was not on the agenda. When a person misuses his passport, we will take it back," Mahathir was reported in local newspapers as saying in northeastern Trengganu state late Thursday.

He said he did not know whether the prince's passport had already been seized by the authorities.