SE Asian MP's to meet in Hanoi
SE Asian MP's to meet in Hanoi
VIETNAM: Nearly 400 Southeast Asian parliamentarians will
converge on the Vietnamese capital on Sunday for a five-day
meeting tackling human rights, terrorism, democracy and other
regional issues.
Delegates at the 23rd general assembly of the ASEAN Inter-
Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) will also discuss measures to
accelerate growth in the region, the body's secretary-general, Vu
Mao, said on Thursday.
AIPO is made up of eight states from the 10-member Association
of Southeast Asian Nations -- Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The other two ASEAN members not part of the AIPO grouping,
Brunei and Myanmar, have no legislatures but will attend the
meeting as observers. --AFP
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Aglance-S'pore-Security
S'pore steps up security checks
JP/12/ASEAN
S'pore steps up security checks
SINGAPORE: The government said on Thursday security would be
beefed up ahead of Sept. 11 in this wealthy Southeast Asian
nation where more than a dozen men -- believed linked to al-Qaeda
-- were arrested for allegedly plotting to blow up the U.S.
Embassy and other targets late last year.
Singapore and the United States have close military relations.
The country recently opened a new naval facility built
specifically to accommodate U.S. aircraft carriers, and also is
home to a U.S. Navy logistics unit.
Armed patrols at Singapore's Changi International airport by
police and soldiers, which began last October, will be more
frequent and more visible ahead of the Sept. 11 anniversary, said
Soh.
Singapore will also perform more stringent immigration and
security checks at ferry terminals and bridge entrances to this
island nation, he said. The country lies between Indonesia and
Malaysia. --AP
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Aglance-RP-air
Plane with 45 tourists crash-lands
JP/12/ASEAN
Plane with 45 tourists crash-lands
PHILIPPINES: A plane carrying 45 mostly South Korean tourists on
a domestic flight crash-landed at Manila airport late Thursday
sustaining major damage, rescue officials said.
"There were no injuries" among the passengers and crew of the
Asian Spirit De Havilland-7 turboprop, Air Transportation Office
(ATO) chief Adelberto Yap said.
A witness saw shell-shocked adult passengers being ushered
into an air-conditioned bus parked outside the airline office at
the airport complex about an hour later.
An unidentified boy among them had a gash on his right cheek.
Airline officials said the passengers also included at least two
Westerners, but they declined to give exact numbers by
nationality. A Caucasian male was seen hauling his golf bag into
the bus. --AFP