KL to host conference on terrorism

KL to host conference on terrorism

MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur will host a conference on terrorism for
Islamic foreign ministers from April 1 to April 3, a government
official said on Monday.

All 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) have been invited and some 1,000 delegates were expected, a
foreign ministry spokesman said.

The conference would be the first time the ministers would
meet specifically to discuss terrorism, he said.

The OIC has condemned the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the
United States, and has pledged co-operation in fighting global
terrorism. --AFP

;AP;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-Vietnam-media
Vietnam to investigate journalists for suspected ties to
underworld
JP/9/ASEAN

Hanoi to probe media ties to gang

VIETNAM: Police in southern Vietnam will investigate local
journalists who are suspected of having links to a large
underworld gang, state-controlled media reported on Monday.

In December, Vietnamese police arrested an alleged underworld
kingpin, Truong Van Cam, and several dozen associates and charged
them with crimes including mafia-style slayings and operation of
illegal gambling rackets.

The Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper quoted national police
chief Truong Huu Quoc as saying police will investigate and
punish more senior officials for suspected involvement in Cam's
criminal network.

On Friday, the Ministry of Public Security suspended two
senior police officers, senior colonels Duong Minh Ngoc and
Nguyen Manh Trung, for "allowing criminal gangs, particularly
Cam's network, to commit many serious crimes," Quoc said. --AP

;AFP;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-S'pore-politics
Singapore opposition leader challenges police to charge him over
JP/9/ASEAN

Opposition leader takes on police

SINGAPORE: Opposition leader Chee Soon Juan challenged the police
on Monday to either charge him with breaking a law which forbids
public discussion of religious issues or apologize for implying
that he did.

In the latest chapter in a long-running battle between the
Singapore Democratic Party leader and the government, Chee has
taken his argument to Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng.

In a letter to Wong on Monday, Chee said police had twice
issued statements saying he had violated the conditions for
public speaking in Singapore during a speech last month, but no
charges had been laid.

Chee faces a fine of up to S$10,000 (US$5,464) if he is
charged and found guilty of flouting a law banning the discussion
of racial and religious issues at Singapore's sole free-speech
plot. --AFP

;REUTERS;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-RP-Estrada
Philippines Estrada says sure to get death penalty
JP/9/ASEAN

Estrada says he's sure to get death

PHILIPPINES: Former president Joseph Estrada, who sparked an
uproar by ordering his entire defense team to quit his corruption
trial, said on Monday he sure of getting the death penalty and no
lawyer could save him.

The former movie actor, accused of illegally amassing more
than four billion pesos (US$78 million) during his 31 months in
office, said court bias against him had convinced him he could
get justice "only in the next life".

Estrada made the statement in a letter to one of seven
attorneys appointed by the anti-graft court to defend him after
he ordered all his nine lawyers last week to withdraw from the
trial, saying the judges had already prejudged his case.

Estrada is on trial for graft, perjury, illegal use of an
alias and economic plunder, the last an offense which can carry
the death penalty. --Reuters

;REUTERS;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
AGlance-MYANMAR-RELEASES
Myanmar frees five political prisoners, 28 women
JP/9/ASEAN

Yangon frees pregnant prisoners

MYANMAR: The military government said on Monday it had freed five
members of "armed outlawed groups" and 28 pregnant women
prisoners, in an apparent response to lobbying by the United
Nations and the Red Cross.

The ruling generals, desperate for international legitimacy,
have freed more than 100 prisoners in the last three weeks,
including at least 21 political prisoners.

Government statements said the women were freed "on
humanitarian grounds" from Yangon's notorious Insein Prison. They
gave no details of the five freed men.

The government began a slow stream of releases in late 2000
when the military began UN-brokered talks with Nobel laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. --Reuters