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
;AP;ANJ; ANPAU..r.. Malaysia-terror-JI Court stops deportation of JI suspect JP/11/ASEAN1
Court stops deportation of JI suspect
MALAYSIA: A Malaysian court issued a temporary order on Wednesday barring the government from deporting a suspected Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) leader to his native Indonesia, the suspect's lawyers said.
The order blocks the government from repatriating Mohamad Iqbal Abdul Rahman before the High Court rules on Nov. 11 on his bid to stay in Malaysia, where he has lived for years with permanent residency status.
The government allowed a two-year order detaining Iqbal without trial on security grounds to expire in August, but instead of releasing him from prison authorities transferred him to Immigration Department custody, canceled his Malaysian residency papers and said he would be deported.
The government gave no reason for not renewing the original detention order -- though the possibility of a bureaucratic error has been raised -- or say what was delaying the deportation after his residency was revoked on Aug. 18.
Indonesia has indicated Iqbal is not on authorities' wanted lists there or subject to investigation for possible illegal activity.
Iqbal launched legal action this week challenging the withdrawal of his Malaysian residency, arguing that the government had made procedural mistakes in the process and had given no reasons for declaring him an "undesirable immigrant." -- AP
;DPA;ANJ; ANPAu..r.. Singapore-docotr-maid Doctor censured over pregnancy test JP/11/ASEAN3
Doctor censured over pregnancy test
SINGAPORE: A doctor was censured by the Singapore Medical Council for failing to diagnose an Indonesian maid's pregnancy when she had been carrying a fetus for three months, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The council ordered Dr. Chong Ah Lek, who has been practicing for nearly 30 years, to pay a S$3,000 (US$1,600) penalty for professional misconduct, The Straits Times said.
Chong had certified to the Manpower Ministry that the pregnancy screening he conducted on the 22-year-old in December 2001 was negative.
Erni Sepang, 22, gave birth at her employer's home about six months later.
She has since gone home to Indonesia with her baby.
The council's disciplinary committee found Chong performed an abdominal examination while Erni was seated upright instead of lying down and also failed to take her menstrual history.
The maid also cheated during the examination. She added water to her urine so the test would turn out negative and she could keep her job in Singapore. -- DPA