S'pore nabs more terror suspects

S'pore nabs more terror suspects

SINGAPORE: Singapore said on Monday it had arrested 21 terror
suspects in August in addition to 13 now in detention for
plotting to blow up the U.S. embassy and other targets in the
city state.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said the 21 were Singaporeans and
that 19 were members of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a Muslim group
which Singapore says has links to the al-Qaeda network accused of
carrying out the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

"The latest arrests have seriously disrupted the JI network in
Singapore," the ministry said in a statement. "There is no known
imminent security threat from other JI elements."

Singapore, a long-time ally of Washington and which hosts a
U.S. navy logistics base, is also holding 12 Singaporeans and one
Malaysian who were arrested in December under the internal
security law that allows for detention without trial. --Reuters

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Aglance-Thai-student-vice
Student prostitution on the rise
JP/11/ASEAN

Student prostitution on the rise

THAILAND: Thai education officials have found themselves in a
quandary over what to do about the phenomenon of university
students selling their bodies to finance their education, a
report said on Monday.

Deputy Education Minister Sirikorn Maneerin said greater
compassion and understanding was needed to deal with student
prostitutes, in the wake of a Thai politician's demand that they
be expelled from university.

The Bangkok Post reported that Chart Thai MP Vichai
Chaijitvanichkul had urged a crackdown on the alarming number of
students known to be engaged in the vice trade.

Thailand is notorious as the home of a booming sex industry,
but the revelation earlier this year that increasing numbers of
university students were having sex for money alarmed the
traditionally conservative population. --AFP

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Aglance-Vietnam-drugs
Drug addicts break out of cure center
JP/11/ASEAN

Drug addicts break out of cure center

VIETNAM: More than 100 inmates have staged a mass breakout from a
rehabilitation center for drug addicts in southern Vietnam,
officials said on Monday.

The escape took place on Thursday when the detainees
overpowered guards at the main gate of the Social Support Center
No. 2 in Ho Chi Minh City's Binh Thanh district.

Police recaptured 62 of the 105 escapees on the same day.
Others were caught over the weekend, but around 10 inmates are
still on the run, an official from the detox center told AFP
requesting anonymity.

In June, hundreds of drug addicts at a center in the southern
province of Can Tho staged a mass breakout in revolt against the
tough new drug reform policy. --AFP

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Aglance-Myanmar-soldiers
80 soldiers jailed over coup attempt
JP/11/ASEAN

80 soldiers jailed over coup attempt

MYANMAR: Myanmar's military government has sentenced more than 80
soldiers to 15 years in prison for their role in a failed coup
attempt allegedly plotted by members of former dictator Ne Win's
family.

A military tribunal on Sept. 12 sentenced the troops from
Light Infantry Regiment 304, which was charged with guarding Ne
Win's 11-hectare lakeside compound, some of the soldiers' wives
said on Monday.

Ne Win's son-in-law Aye Zaw Win and three grandsons were
arrested in March on accusations they tried to recruit army
officers for a coup against Myanmar's ruling junta. They face a
maximum penalty of death. The verdict is set to be delivered on
Sept. 26.

The soldiers, ranging in rank from private to major, were
transferred after the sentencing earlier this month to Yangon's
Insein prison, where their wives visited them last Friday. --AP