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

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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

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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

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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

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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