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

;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. 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

;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. 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