KL hopes to nab top terror suspects
KL hopes to nab top terror suspects
MALAYSIA: Malaysian police hope to track down six top Malaysian Muslim militants after the recent arrest of a suspected terrorist and the discovery of bomb-making chemicals, an intelligence official said on Friday.
The suspect, Alias Osman, 36, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur on June 9 and led police to a cache of chemicals similar to the ones used in the Bali bombings in Indonesia last year which killed more than 200 people, mainly Western tourists.
He is being held as a suspected member of the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network accused of carrying out the Bali attack, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Malaysian police have offered a bounty of 50,000 ringgit (US$13,000) for the arrest of bomb-expert Azahari Husin, a Malaysian wanted by Indonesian police for his alleged role in the Bali attacks, and the five other suspects -- Noor Din Mohamad Top, Shamsul Bahri Hussein, Amran Mansor, Zulkifli Hir and Zulkepli Marzuki. --AFP
;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thai-Monk-crime Murdered monk was 'mafia millionaire' JP/11/ASEAN
Murdered monk was 'mafia millionaire'
THAILAND: A Thai Buddhist monk shot dead this week had amassed a US$5 million fortune in 12 bank accounts from years of extortion and was on a government blacklist of influential "mafia" figures, police said on Friday.
Investigators said the monk, Phra Kru Nanthapiwat, murdered execution-style by an unidentified assailant on Tuesday, had been earning as much as one million baht ($24,030) a week by embezzling temple funds and running illegal motorcycle taxi gangs.
The monk, who had been at the temple on the outskirts of Bangkok for 36 years, also promoted himself as a spiritual medium who could dispel bad luck in exchange for money, police said.
Thai Buddhist monks live on food donations from the local community and are supposed to only use money for the upkeep of temples. --Reuters
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thai-school shooting Teenager shoots schoolmate in quarrel JP/11/ASEAN
Teenager shoots schoolmate in quarrel
THAILAND: A 17-year-old student allegedly shot and injured a younger schoolmate during a quarrel on Friday, the fourth shooting involving teenagers in two weeks in Thailand, police said.
Police arrested the teenager and two other students, who were allegedly accomplices, after the shooting on the grounds of a school in northeastern Nakorn Ratchasima province, said police Capt. Pongchai Tampradit.
All three were charged with attempted murder and could face life imprisonment. The charge will be upgraded to murder if the victim dies, Pongchai said. He did not know the victim's condition.
The alleged gunman had been fighting for days with a 15-year- old boy, because he believed the younger boy was being disrespectful, Pongchai said. This was the fourth shooting involving schoolboys in two weeks, two of which were fatal. --AP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Laos-blast One killed, 20 injured in bomb blast JP/11/ASEAN
One killed, 20 injured in bomb blast
LAOS: One person was killed and 20 others injured in a bomb blast carried out by "bandits" on board a passenger bus in southern Laos, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
The explosion took place at about 11 p.m. on Wednesday in the Thakhek district of Khammuan province while the bus was en route to the Lao capital, Vientiane, from the southern town of Pakse.
Foreign ministry spokesman Sodom Petrasy said it was a planned attack.
Laos often uses the term "bandits" to describe ethnic minority insurgents fighting the communist regime. Two deadly attacks in February and April this year along the main north-south highway were also blamed on "bandits", although diplomats believe they were the work of Hmong rebels. --AFP