KL, S'pore refer island row to ICJ

KL, S'pore refer island row to ICJ

MALAYSIA: Malaysia and Singapore on Friday cleared the last hurdle in referring their territorial dispute over an island to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Officials from both sides exchanged documents to ratify a special agreement signed three months ago by their foreign ministers to take their dispute to the ICJ, according to a foreign ministry statement here.

Malaysia was represented by foreign ministry deputy secretary- general Aziz Mohammed and Singapore by its High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, Ashok Kumar Mirpuri at the ceremony in the government capital of Putrajaya.

The island, known as Pulau Batu Puteh to Malaysia and Pedra Branca to Singapore, is the latest source of tension between the two countries. --AFP

;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thai-Asia-UN-drugs Traffickers pursue new markets after Thai anti-drug blitz: UN JP/11/ASEAN

Traffickers pursue new markets

THAILAND: Drug manufacturers and traffickers are seeking new users beyond their traditional methamphetamine market in Thailand following a brutal crackdown here, the United Nations drug agency said on Friday.

The makers of methamphetamines, predominantly in Myanmar, have turned to neighbors India, Cambodia and Laos to peddle pills since Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's three-month war on drugs which ended April 30, a top official in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.

Thaksin's self-described drug war, during which over 2,000 people were killed, has forced dealers to reconsider their normal practice of moving the pills across the border from Myanmar, identified by experts as Asia's number one producer of the stimulants.

Thailand is the world's largest per-capita consumer of the pills -- known here as yaa baa, or "crazy medicine", with five percent of Thailand's 63 million people considered users and with the crisis now funneling into other countries. --AFP

;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-S'pore-SARS-jail Singapore man sentenced to 6 months in jail for violating home JP/11/ASEAN

Man jailed for violating quarantine

SINGAPORE: A Singapore man, suspected of having Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), was jailed for six months on Friday for repeatedly flouting home quarantine orders, police said.

Officers arrested Chua Hock Seng, 50, last week after he went out drinking twice even though medical authorities ordered him to stay at home, said police spokesman Stanley Norbert.

His conviction and sentencing on Friday marks the first time the city-state has invoked tough new laws, ushered through Parliament last month, aimed at curbing the spread of SARS.

For the past week, Chua had been isolated at a former drug rehabilitation center as a health precaution. He has now been given a clean bill of health and will be moved to a standard prison cell, said Norbert. --AP

;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Malaysia-Anwar Malaysia's Anwar gets prison break to attend daughter's wedding JP/11/ASEAN

Anwar attends daughter's wedding

MALAYSIA: Jailed Malaysian ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was on Friday given a brief prison break to attend his eldest daughter's wedding after his bail hearing in court.

Anwar arrived under armed escort at the family's residence in a Kuala Lumpur suburb to attend the wedding of his 22-year-old daughter, Nurul Izzah, to engineer Raja Ahmad Sharir Iskandar, 26, in a Malay ceremony held under tight security.

After changing into a Malay costume, Anwar, who is still wearing a neckbrace due to an old injury, gave his daughter's hand to the groom during a 30-minute religious rite watched by some 200 family members and relatives.

Nurul Izzah, who met her husband during a study tour in London in 1999 after her father was ousted and jailed, said: "I am happy that he could attend the wedding." --AFP

;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAu..r.. AGlance-Philippines-negotiator Philippine negotiator with Muslim rebels quits JP/11/ASEAN

RP negotiator with Moro rebels quits

PHILIPPINES: The Philippine government's chief negotiator with the country's biggest Moro rebel group quit on Friday, dealing another blow to the difficult quest to reach a peace deal.

The government of the Roman Catholic nation and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have held talks for years to end three decades of violence on the southern island of Mindanao but two deadly bombings blamed on the rebels quashed hopes of any progress.

The latest round of talks brokered by Malaysia were scrapped this week as Manila stepped up military operations and offered a reward of nearly US$1 million for the capture of key MILF leaders.

Jesus Dureza, who chaired a government panel seeking to forge a peace pact with the rebels, said in a letter to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo he was stepping aside to focus on development efforts on war-torn Mindanao. --Reuters