Two kidnapper cops arrested

Two kidnapper cops arrested

MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur authorities arrested two police detectives and freed a businessman they had allegedly kidnapped for ransom, a news report said on Tuesday.

Two other detectives allegedly involved in the abduction were being hunted, The Star newspaper cited Kuala Lumpur police chief Syed Rahman Syed Abdul Kadir as saying.

The kidnapping was the latest in a series of crimes exposed by a crackdown on corrupt police.

At least 16 officers have been detained since early this year for robbery, kidnapping and extortion in and around Kuala Lumpur.

In the latest incident, four police detectives abducted the 23-year-old building contractor on Sunday from his home in Kuala Lumpur and demanded 3,000 ringgit (US$789) from his family, The Star reported. --AP

;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-RP-US exercise Philippines, U.S. hold naval surveillance exercise JP/9/ASEAN

Naval exercise held in Sulu Sea

PHILIPPINES: The Philippines and the United States on Tuesday began a four-day, small-scale naval exercise meant to enhance maritime surveillance cooperation.

The exercise is being held off southwestern Palawan province in the Sulu Sea, where Muslim extremist guerrillas seized three Americans and 17 Filipinos from an island resort in May, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The statement, however, said the exercise was routine and "has nothing to do" with an ongoing military operation against the extremist Abu Sayyaf group, which has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, or the military action in Afghanistan.

It said Exercise Marsurvex 02-1 is the last of four maritime surveillance exercises this year. It involves four Philippine naval vessels, special forces personnel and an air force surveillance aircraft. The U.S. participants include only the crew of a P-3 Orion maritime surveillance plane that is part of the U.S. Seventh Fleet based in Okinawa, Japan. --AP

;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAu..r.. AGlance-Myanmar-UN envoy UN envoy begins Myanmar mission JP/9/ASEAN

UN envoy begins Myanmar mission

MYANMAR: The UN special envoy to Myanmar arrived in the capital, Yangon, on Tuesday amid conflicting reports from the ruling military and pro-democracy opposition over the progress of reconciliation talks.

Razali Ismail will meet military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt during his eight-day stay, as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of ethnic minorities, a UN official said.

But members of the opposition, including Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) -- which won 1990 elections but were denied power -- are critical of the lack of progress in the highly secretive talks which began in October last year.

The military, however, maintains progress is being made, citing the release of dozens of imprisoned NLD members and reopening of many opposition offices in recent months. --Reuters

;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. AGlance-Thailand-crime Six Filipinos arrested for tourist Blackjack scam in Thailand JP/9/THAILAND

Six Filipinos arrested for scam

THAILAND: Six Filipinos were caught red handed trying to scam thousands of dollars from mostly Japanese tourists in a fixed card game, police in Bangkok said on Tuesday.

Thai police raided a house in a Bangkok suburb on Monday and arrested the six, who were at work fleecing 45,000 baht (US$1000) out of a hapless victim at the card table, Police Maj. Gen. Chat Kuldilok said.

The arrests were made after a tip off from a previous victim, he added.

The group would search out mostly Japanese tourists in Bangkok and spin an elaborate tale of a sure-fire way to defeat a billionaire challenger from Brunei, who was in fact in on the scam.

One Japanese tourist had lost eight million baht in the Blackjack game, the police officer said. --AFP

;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Cambodia-Vietnam Vietnam and Cambodia fail to finalize border dispute protocol JP/9/ASEAN

Vietnam, Cambodia fail to end border dispute

CAMBODIA: Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong left Phnom Penh on Tuesday after failing to reach an agreement with Cambodia aimed at resolving long standing border disputes.

Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong said the two countries had reached several agreements covering cross-border trade, commerce and exchanges of officials between government ministries.

However, the crucial issue of agreeing to a protocol aimed at eventually solving border disputes that date back centuries was not signed as expected.

Some Cambodian nationalists still lay claim to the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam, which they refer to as "lower Cambodia." --AFP