Thai army chief to visit Indonesia
Thai army chief to visit Indonesia
THAILAND: Thailand's army chief Gen. Somdhat Attanand will visit Indonesia next week to discuss weapons smuggling with his Indonesian counterpart, an army official said on Wednesday.
Thailand's foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai visited Jakarta last week and met with President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
He told reporters afterward that there was no indication of arms smuggling from Thailand to Aceh, but said action would be taken against anyone involved in such a crime.
Indonesia launched a major military operation in Aceh last week after last-ditch peace talks with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) broke down.
Gen. Somdhat, who took up his post late last year, will also visit Brunei during a four-day familiarization trip to both countries beginning on Tuesday. --AFP
;DPA;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-NewZealand-ship RI crew going home after abuse on ship JP/12/ASEAN
RI crew going home after abuse on ship
NEW ZEALAND: Six Indonesian crew members were taken off a freighter in New Zealand's port of Nelson on Wednesday after the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) said they had been mistreated, underpaid and underfed.
One of them told Radio New Zealand the crew had been given water drawn from the Panama Canal to drink while the captain's dog had mineral water.
Local ITF coordinator Kathy Whelan escorted the six Indonesians off the Korean-owned motor vessel Wisteria, which flies the Panamanian flag, and said they would be flown home on Thursday.
She said the federation, which discovered "gross mistreatment" of the crew in routine inspections as it loaded export fruit in New Zealand ports, had obtained back pay totaling US$20,000 for the crewmen who were leaving.
She said 13 other crew members, who were from Myanmar, remained on the ship and were too frightened to speak to the ITF for fear of consequences when they returned home. --DPA
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-RP-MILF-truce MILF separatists offer 10-day truce JP/12/ASEAN
MILF separatists offer 10-day truce
PHILIPPINES: Muslim separatists declared on Wednesday a 10-day unilateral cease-fire from next week to give peace talks a chance to resume in the troubled southern Philippines, 12 days into a campaign of punitive strikes ordered by President Gloria Arroyo.
Arroyo in a statement welcomed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)'s offer as "a positive and welcome development", but urged them to do more by complying with an earlier government demand to turn over suspected bombers and cut links with terror groups.
MILF military chief Murad Ebrahim signed the cease-fire declaration, rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said. It would start on June 2 to give MILF field commanders enough time to receive and comply with the order, he added.
Kabalu said the decision was in response to an "earnest call" from the dominant Roman Catholic Church as well as other peace advocates for an end to fighting in the Mindanao region. --AFP
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Malaysia-resigns KL transportation minister resigns JP/11/ASEAN
KL transportation minister resigns
MALAYSIA: Ling Liong Sik, a long-time ally of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and a former political boss from Malaysia's Chinese minority, resigned from the Cabinet on Wednesday, ending a ministerial career spanning more than 17 years.
His retirement as transportation minister is part of a changing of the political guard in the Southeast Asian nation and comes ahead of Mahathir's scheduled stepping down in October.
Ling's departure from Malaysia's tough political scene had been widely anticipated. Five days ago Ling stood down as leader of the Malaysian Chinese Association -- the largest party in the ruling coalition after Mahathir's -- to defuse a long-running factional dispute.
The Chinese party's leadership change, in which Ling's deputy also quit, was part of a deal brokered by Mahathir to end infighting that had threatened to tarnish the entire coalition. --AP