KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government has imposed an

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government has imposed an
indefinite ban on the import of logs from Indonesia, the national
news agency Bernama reported Tuesday.

Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik said the ban, which
took effect immediately, was necessary to combat allegations that
Malaysia was involved in the trading of illegal timber from
Indonesia.

"We have been accused of importing illegal logs from Indonesia
and selling the timber products produced from these illegal logs
to consumers worldwide," Lim was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Lim didn't identify who made the allegations, which he said
had been aired in a program by the British Broadcasting Corp.
recently.

Ministry officials weren't immediately available for comment.

Malaysia imports about 1 million cubic meters of logs every
year from Indonesia. -- Dow Jones