KL condemns U.S. over false report
KL condemns U.S. over false report
MALAYSIA: Malaysian acting prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi slammed the U.S. on Sunday for submitting a false report to the United Nations on Iraq's alleged nuclear weapons program.
Describing the action as "a worrisome and shameful act", Abdullah said Malaysia was sad that the United States had attempted to use it as evidence to attack Iraq.
Abdullah made the comments when asked to respond to the revelation by UN weapons inspectors that the U.S. had submitted fraudulent documents to prove its allegations that Iraq was conducting a nuclear weapons program.
Such actions would spark anger among the world community, he warned.
On the question of possible Iraqi uranium imports from Niger, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei said on Friday his agency had determined that documents said by the United States and Britain to support the allegations were fraudulent. --AFP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thailand-drugs Police release data on drug killings JP/11/ASEAN
Police release data on drug killings
THAILAND: Nearly 1,500 have been killed in Thailand's "war" on drugs since it was launched on Feb. 1, police said on Sunday, releasing an updated toll for the controversial campaign.
Police acting in self-defense were responsible for 31 of the 1,498 killings, police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen said. Authorities say the rest were allegedly carried out by drug gangs to silence their members.
Pongsapat said 108 suspects had been arrested for the killings, 108 of which occurred in the first week of March.
Police also arrested 4,015 people in the first week of March and seized 1.23 million amphetamine tablets, he said.
The crackdown, targeted at the methamphetamines that pour into Thailand from its neighbors, has attracted criticism from a range of rights groups concerned about allegations of extrajudicial killings and questionable official blacklists of suspects. --AFP
;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-RP-rebels-charged RP charges 151 rebels with murder JP/11/ASEAN
RP charges 151 rebels with murder
PHILIPPINES: Philippine prosecutors have filed murder charges against the leader of the country's biggest Moro rebel group and 150 of his fighters over a deadly bombing at a southern airport, officials said on Sunday.
Acting chief prosecutor Danilo Belo of Davao city, where 21 people were killed on Tuesday, said he expected the court to issue arrest warrants for rebel chairman Hashim Salamat and the others by Wednesday, after reviewing the evidence.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has denied any role in last Tuesday's terror attack, the worst in the mainly Roman Catholic country for more than two years.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of death by lethal injection, although it is not clear whether police will be able to track down and capture the elusive Salamat and other leaders of an estimated 12,000 heavily armed guerrillas. --Reuters
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thailand-Cambodia Casinos in Cambodia losing millions JP/11/ASEAN
Casinos in Cambodia losing millions
THAILAND: Casinos in Cambodia have lost at least 300 million baht (US$7 million) a week since Thailand stopped its nationals crossing the border after the January anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh, it was reported on Sunday.
The Thai army's Burapa Task Force, which patrols part of the border, estimated that eight casinos in Cambodia's border town of Poipet typically had a combined income of 300 million to 500 million baht per week from Thai gamblers.
A percentage of this was allocated to the government of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the Bangkok Post said.
Before the border restrictions, about 1,000 Thais gambled in the casinos every weekend, the paper said. This rose to 2,000 over public holidays. --AFP