Mahathir says Abdullah his successor
Mahathir says Abdullah his successor
MALAYSIA: Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has affirmed his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as his successor and praised Abdullah for a "good job" in running the country while he was away.
"He has done very well. He conducted cabinet meetings, those of UMNO (United Malays National Organization) and everything else... never consulted me, did not bother me... very happy, no phone calls," Mahathir was quoted as saying by Friday's New Straits Times upon his return from a one-month vacation abroad.
"I am very glad. It just goes to show that this country can be managed because the system and policies have been put in place."
Separately, the newspaper also quoted Mahathir as telling the Al-Jazeera television in a recent interview in London that Abdullah would succeed him as the country's next premier. --AFP
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thai-North Korea Thailand pledges support for North and South Korea reunification JP/9/ASEAN
Bangkok backs Korean reunification
THAILAND: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Friday pledged support for the reunification of North Korea and South Korea, the Foreign Ministry said.
"We support the reunification of North and South Korea through a peace process and hope to see the next summit between them soon," Foreign Ministry spokesman Rathakit Manathat told a news conference after a one-hour meeting between Thaksin and the visiting North Korean No. 2, Kim Yong-nam.
Kim, who arrived on Thursday on a goodwill visit, is officially head of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's rubber-stamp legislature. He ranks second to supreme leader Kim Jong-il and serves as his country's ceremonial head of state.
Rathakit said Thaksin and Kim committed to start implementing a new deal to ship 300,000 tons of Thai rice to Pyongyang by June. The trade is on a two-year credit. --AP
;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Vietnam-China-beach China's Jiang takes a dip at Vietnam's China Beach JP/9/ASEAN
China's Jiang takes a dip at beach
VIETNAM: China's 75-year-old president, Jiang Zemin, on Friday followed the example of thousands of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and countless holidaymakers since by taking a swim at Vietnam's China Beach.
Jiang swam for 10 minutes in the sea off the legendary beach near Danang in central Vietnam, surrounded by about 20 bodyguards and lifeguards.
Pham Son, a lifeguard at the luxury resort on the beach where Jiang was spending the last few hours of a three-day visit to Vietnam, said Jiang swam about 200 meters offshore.
Jiang has created a splash before when on tour. In 1997 he took a surprise public swim at Hawaii's Waikiki beach, also surrounded by bodyguards and Secret Service men. --Reuters
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Brunei-drugs Brunei tightens noose on escalating drug problem JP/9/ASEAN
Brunei tightens noose on drug problem
BRUNEI: Brunei has drastically toughened penalties for drug abuse including wider use of the death penalty in a desperate crackdown to curb an escalating drug problem.
Trafficking or smuggling 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of the drug "ice" would now result in a death sentence, down from 200 grams previously, it was announced on Friday.
The new law, which took effect from Feb. 2, provides a 20-year jail term and 15 strokes of the cane for trafficking 20 grams or more, up from a five-year prison sentence and five strokes of the rattan.
Possession of at least 100 grams of the drug will now also merit the death penalty, down from 250 grams, according to the law issued by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, ruler of the small Southeast Asian state. --AFP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Myanmar-opposition Myanmar junta frees five pro-democracy figures JP/9/ASEAN
Junta frees 5 pro-democracy figures
MYANMAR: Military junta said on Friday it had freed five members of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
The five, identified as Kyaw Aye, Myo Myint, Hla Sein, Tin Kyi and Thein Zaw, were released from various correctional institutions, a spokesman for the regime said in a statement.
Myanmar's military government said earlier this year it has released some 220 political prisoners since it embarked on landmark talks with Aung San Suu Kyi in October 2000.
It has since released 11 political prisoners in an apparent gesture of goodwill linked with a February visit by UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.
On Thursday it announced that 68 women prisoners, including 57 with young children and 11 expectant mothers, were freed from jail and granted amnesty for various criminal offenses. --AFP