Wife of militant ordered jailed
Wife of militant ordered jailed
MALAYSIA: The home minister signed an order to jail for two years the wife of an Islamic militant suspect connected to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, a government source said on Thursday.
Sejahratul Dursina has been in police custody since April 17, when she was arrested along with 13 other people under a tough Malaysian security law on suspicion of links with an Islamic militant group in Southeast Asia.
The Internal Security Act provides for an initial period of police detention, during which Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi considers whether to send a detainee to a prison farm under a two-year order.
Sejahratul, 37, is married to Yazid Sufaat, a former Malaysian army captain who has been jailed without trial since December on accusations he let al-Qaeda members stay in an apartment that he and Sejahratul own near Kuala Lumpur. --AP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Philippine-cabinet Arroyo aide quits Philippine cabinet JP/10/ASEAN
Arroyo aide quits cabinet
PHILIPPINES: Pantaleon Alvarez, a senior aide to Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, quit his post as transportation and communications secretary, a presidential spokesman said on Thursday.
Alvarez tendered his resignation effective June 10 after Congress refused to ratify his appointment to the cabinet post, presidential spokesman Silvestre Afable told reporters.
Under the Philippine system, the legislature's Commission on Appointments vets all nominees to the president's cabinet.
Alvarez in a statement said he voluntarily resigned to stop an alleged "insidious smear campaign" by his political enemies.
He has previously fended off allegations of bias in the awarding of a contract to build a new Manila international airport terminal. --AFP
;DPA;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Malaysia-politics Malaysia opposition leader still unconscious days after surgery JP/10/ASEAN
KL opposition leader still unconscious
MALAYSIA: Malaysia's opposition leader Fadzil Noor remained unconscious and in critical condition over 72 hours after he underwent a five-hour heart bypass operation in a Kuala Lumpur hospital, a news report said on Thursday.
Fadzil, 65, had been admitted last week for a routine-checkup and his operation on Monday morning was described as an emergency measure, online news site Malaysiakini.com said.
He had last month complained of chest pains and his heart condition is believed to have been aggravated by the pace of the recent annual general assembly of his Parti Islam-Semalaysia (PAS).
Fadzil's ultra-conservative PAS is currently trying to get Islamic criminal laws, or hudud, passed and implemented in Terengganu state, which the party controls.
On Wednesday, PAS said Terengganu chief minister Abdul Hadi Awang would temporarily assume Fadzil's duties. --DPA