KL tightens security for OIC summit

KL tightens security for OIC summit

MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur will deploy some 9,000 police and troops to ensure security for the world's Islamic leaders attending a summit here next week, an official said on Wednesday.

They have been specially trained "to face any form of threat" during the summit of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), internal security deputy director Arthur Edmonds told the Bernama news agency.

Terrorism is expected to be high on the agenda at the Oct. 16- Oct. 18 summit, the first since relations between the Islamic world and the West were shaken by the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

A total of 30 heads of state have confirmed their attendance at the summit, according to Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

The remaining countries would be represented by their foreign ministers at the talks in Malaysia's new government capital of Putrajaya, south of Kuala Lumpur.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo will attend as observers, while the United Nations will be represented by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. -- AFP