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