Muslim cops leave Misuari stronghold

Muslim cops leave Misuari stronghold

THE PHILIPPINES: Three hundred Muslim rebels-turned-policemen
finally obeyed a government order and left the island stronghold
of their detained leader Nur Misuari after a series of bloody
battles with the military, officials said in Zamboanga Saturday.

Regional police commander Acmad Omar said the 300 took a
chartered ferry to the province of Maguindanao where they will
stay in a police training camp while the violence on Jolo island
is investigated.

The policemen, former members of Misuari's Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF), were involved in a series of clashes
that claimed the lives of at least 12 Marines and elite Scout
Rangers in Jolo island following protests over the detention of
Misuari.

The Rangers and Marines had earlier been pulled out of Jolo to
defuse tensions but the police had threatened to take up arms and
refused orders to leave until now.

The former rebels were integrated into the police force as
part of a peace accord between the government and Misuari in 1996
in which Misuari was installed as governor of a Muslim autonomous
area. -- AFP

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Hilite-Japan-politics
Koizumi rated as desirable premier despite economic failure
JP/2/HIGH

Koizumi rated desirable PM

JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was rated the
best suited for the post a poll revealed Saturday, despite his
failure to spur the flagging economy, while the main opposition
party declared war to oust him.

In a poll of 2,000 adults, 27.1 percent said Koizumi was the
most desirable politician to hold the prime minister's office,
Jiji Press news agency said.

His runner-up, opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, who used to be
a strongman in Koizumi's long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party,
could wow only 6.9 percent, compared with 5.9 percent for Naoto
Kan, number-two in the main opposition Democratic Party. Foreign
Minister Makiko Tanaka was rated by 5.6 percent of respondents.

In the poll held a week earlier, 2,000 responded with valid
answers, Jiji said. -- AFP

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Hilite-Vietnam-rights
Vietnam dismisses critical rights report as "groundless"
JP/2/HIGH

Vietnam condemns rights report

VIETNAM: Vietnam's communist authorities Saturday dismissed as
"totally false and groundless" an annual report by Human Rights
Watch criticizing "major steps backward' in their human rights
record during 2001.

The accusations "only serve to tarnish the organization's
image", said foreign ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh,
accusing the respected New York-based advocacy group of
"frequently joining overseas anti-Vietnam organizations to spread
fabrications and slander against Vietnam".

"Nobody has been arrested or jailed in Vietnam on religious or
political charges," Thanh insisted, adding that "legal actions
were being taken only against those who violated the laws of the
nation".

But she offered no defense of laws which grant recognition to
just a handful of officially approved religious leadership, and
which continue to allow dissidents to be detained without charge
or trial. -- AFP

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Hilite-Russia-arm
Russian general: Moscow, Washington to reach new arms agreement
by
JP/2/HIGH

Russia, the U.S. to reach arms agreement

RUSSIA: A top Russian general said Saturday he expected a new
arms control agreement between Moscow and Washington to be worked
out by the summer, when the U.S. withdrawal from the Anti-
Ballistic Missile Treaty becomes final.

Gen. Anatoly Kvashnin, chief of the General Staff of the
Russian armed forces, said a new agreement on nuclear weapons
cuts was needed "to lay the foundation for strategic stability as
a whole on a new basis and under new conditions, taking into
account the United States' unilateral decision to withdraw from
the ABM treaty," according to the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news
agencies.

Russian and U.S. delegations discussed plans for military
cooperation and arms reductions in Washington this week. Douglas
Feith, the undersecretary of defense who headed the U.S.
delegation, said Washington was willing to put new agreements in
writing -- something U.S. officials have not been eager to do,
but on which Moscow has insisted. -- AP

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Hilite-Malaysia-Anwar
Malaysia's highest court sets Feb. 4 for Anwar Ibrahim's appeal
JP/2/HIGH

Ibrahim's appeal set for Feb. 4

MALAYSIA: Jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim called off his one-
week hunger strike after Malaysia's highest court set Feb. 4 to
hear the final appeal against his conviction and six-year prison
sentence for corruption, Anwar's lawyer said Saturday.

Officials at the Kuala Lumpur Federal Court faxed a notice to
Sankara Nair informing Anwar's defense team to prepare for the
hearing, which has been postponed twice in two months. It will be
the ousted deputy prime minister's last legal avenue to appeal
the conviction and sentence.

Anwar launched a "stringent fast" of a meal a day on Jan. 11
after the Federal Court had postponed the hearing, which was set
to begin on Monday at the request of the Attorney-General.

Sankara said Anwar, who has been confined to a wheelchair
since suffering a slipped disc in Nov. 2000, was "very happy"
when informed of the new dates and had agreed to resume normal
meals. -- AP

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Hilite-China-cloning
China's first cloned calf dies soon after birth
JP/2/HIGH

China's first cloned calf dies

CHINA: China's first domestically cloned calf died minutes
after its birth in the eastern province of Shandong just as the
experiment was being celebrated as a major technological feat,
state television reported on Saturday.

China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast images of black and
white calf Weiwei heaving for breath after it was born late on
Friday.

The calf died half an hour after it was pulled out of its
mothers' womb by specialists who performed a Caesarean section.
The images were in stark contrast to an earlier report by the
official Xinhua news agency which quoted a researcher as saying
the successful experiment showed China's "cloning technology has
reached the world's most advanced level".

Global advocates of cloning say technology being used in other
parts of the world such as Australia promises to revolutionize
the multibillion-dollar beef and dairy markets. -- Reuters

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Hilite-China-bugs
China says president's jet bugged
JP/2/HIGH

China says president's jet bugged

LONDON: China has said its intelligence officers found more
than 20 spying devices in a Boeing 767 meant to become President
Jiang Zemin's official plane after it was delivered from the
U.S., the Financial Times said on Saturday.

Citing Chinese officials, the newspaper said it was unclear
when the aircraft was fitted with the bugs, said to be tiny and
operated by satellite.

The devices were detected after the plane emitted a strange
static whine during test flights in China in September, shortly
after it was delivered. One device was found in a lavatory and
another in the headboard of the presidential bed.

The discovery came ahead of a planned summit between U.S.
President George W. Bush and Jiang in Beijing next month. The
Chinese president was said to be furious about the find, the FT
said.

The aircraft was made at the Boeing factory in Seattle and
then fitted with VIP equipment and upholstery by another company.
The plane was under surveillance by Chinese officials throughout,
the newspaper said. A Boeing spokesman declined to comment on the
report. -- Reuters

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Hilite-U.S.-shoebomber
Accused shoebomber pleads not guilty to all charges
JP/2/HIGH

Richard Reid pleads not guilty

UNITED STATES: Richard Reid, who U.S. officials say trained
with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network in Afghanistan, pleaded
not guilty on Friday to charges he tried to destroy an airliner
with 197 people on board last month by detonating explosives in
his shoes.

"Not guilty," Reid answered softly when asked to enter a plea
in the case.

Reid's lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Tamar Birckhead, did
not comment after the arraignment, but said earlier this week she
was unaware of any evidence that supported a link between her
client and al Qaeda.

No trial date was set. The next court date in the case will be
a status hearing on March 4 when scheduling and other issues will
be addressed before Judge William Young, to whom the case has
been assigned. Reid, a 28-year-old Briton, was not expected to
attend. -- Reuters