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Suu Tov KhmerKrom (mysong myvoice)

Saturday, August 8

Hamill's Khmer Rouge testimony delayed

09/08/2009
NZPA

A new date has been set for Olympic rower Rob Hamill to testify about his brother's murder by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia has been pushed back.

Hamill was due to testify before the Khmer Rouge Tribunal on August 12, but the date was pushed back to August 18 today.

Kerry Hamill ended up at the S-21 or Tuol Sleng prison headed by Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, when the yacht he and friends were sailing strayed into Cambodian waters on August 13 1978.

One crewman, Canadian Stuart Glass, was shot while Mr Hamill and Briton John Dewhirst were taken for interrogation and torture for two months before being killed.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in the 70s in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died from starvation, overwork, torture or execution during the 1975-1979 regime. Read more!

Friendly fire keeps teams busy

Writer: John Dykes
Published: 9/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Sports

It was a weekend of upsets - Liverpool crashing 3-0 to Espanyol, Spurs losing 2-0 at the hands of Hong Kong's South China and Newcastle even managing a draw against Dundee United - but it was an upset in a competitive league fixture that really caught my eye.

PRE-SEASON: Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard closes down Lyn’s Jo Inge during a friendly match in Norway last week.

In China's Super League, leaders Beijing Guo'an went down 3-2 away to the league's bottom side Chongqing Lifan. In doing so, they provided an ironic postscript to the Barclay's Asia Trophy.

When the Premier League's executives arrived in the Chinese capital, they did so with the intention of staging a tournament featuring a full-strength Beijing side whose league commitments had been postponed to allow them to give it their all.

They soon learned that the Chinese Football Association had decided it would rather Beijing honoured those commitments.

Rather than incurring the wrath of either host (country or organiser), let's just say it has been alleged that someone, somewhere went back on an agreement.

The upshot: faced with an itinerary which called for Asia Trophy matches on Wednesday and Friday and then a two-hour flight to Chongqing for the league game, Beijing coach Lee Jang-soo did what he thought was right.

He withdrew his key players at regular intervals during the second half of the opening game against Hull, and arguably cost his team a victory that looked highly likely (they eventually lost in a penalty shoot-out).

Then, faced with a "meaningless" third-place play-off against West Ham, Lee put out a "Beijing" side which piqued the curiosity of local journalists.

"Could you please tell us a bit about tonight's starting lineup," asked one reporter at the post-match press conference following their 2-0 defeat. "For instance, who were those players?"

Lee, you see, had drafted in a collection of Beijing-based foreign footballers who aren't actually contracted to Guo'an, along with some youth team players. To be fair, they put up a decent enough showing to maintain the integrity of the match in which they were involved (and the tournament for that matter), but Beijing's "rested" first team still managed to lose in Chongqing despite Lee's efforts.

The shame of it is that a full-strength Guo'an would have made the Asia Trophy final and ensured a raucous sell-out crowd. They would also have given Spurs more of a challenge in the final than they received from the weak Hull starting XI named by Phil Brown.

As it happened, Spurs looked a genuinely classy outfit in Beijing before they too played a Sunday fixture they could have done without and saw their young side beaten in Hong Kong.

The point here is that many of the scorelines from friendly matches played over the past fortnight have made for unusual reading at first glance. Gain a little more information on team lineups, fitness, weather conditions and travel plans, though, and one begins to get a clearer understanding of these results.

So, what have we learned from Manchester United's eight-goal romp against Hangzhou compared to, say, Chelsea's wins over Inter and AC Milan, or Arsenal's romp against Rangers?

Well, we know that the "Big Four" managers could all do with buying players. No-one is writing off Manchester City's chances, given the money spent, but Tottenham have also caught the eye.

We have also been reminded that Liverpool look fairly ordinary if Gerrard and Torres aren't playing. That said, former West Ham players Tony Gayle and Tony Cottee (in Beijing with the Hammers) both tipped Liverpool as the team to upset United and Chelsea in the race for the title.

But another seasoned football-watcher, who was working in China last week, made the following observation: don't write off Arsenal.

While conventional wisdom has it that Arsenal's place in the "Big Four" looks the most threatened, renowned football commentators Martin Tyler pointed out that the UK football gambling markets have seen heavy bets placed this past week on Arsenal to win the title.

With odds as long as 10-1 from most bookmakers, many punters feel Wenger's youngsters may just be worth a look, especially if the manager does decide to spend some of the money raised by the sale of Adebayor and Toure.

With the transfer window open well beyond the start of the EPL season, there is still scope for Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea to make signings that ultimately take the title out of Arsenal's reach.

Until we know what has happened in the market, we have to limit ourselves to acknowledging that all of the above clubs have been steadily working their way towards match fitness this pre-season. Just as they always do, and in spite of some eccentric results in exotic locations.

Spare a thought, though, for Beijing Guo'an and the effect that a EPL pre-season could have on their own 2009 campaign. Here's hoping they too can shrug off a surprising defeat and get back to winning ways Read more!

FIRST NORTH KOREA. NOW IRAN?

Beyond Bill Clinton's trip lurks President Obama's nuclear disarmament agenda

Writer: By Anne Penketh
Published: 9/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum

Bill Clinton's successful mission to North Korea presents a "win-win" situation for US President Obama. Never mind the nay-sayers, such as the neo-conservative former ambassador John Bolton, who has accused the administration of practically consorting with terrorists by engaging with the unpredictable Kim Jong-il. Contrary to Mr Bolton, who forgot in his previous incarnations working for George Bush that actions have consequences, Mr Obama has demonstrated that he is a serious strategic thinker, and by dispatching the former president to Pyongyang he has his eye on the long term. The benefits for Mr Obama outweigh the disadvantages, not least because Mr Clinton will come back with a first-hand appraisal of the mental and medical condition of the "Dear Leader", who seemed wizened and frail in the TV footage.

That is an intelligence bonanza that money can't buy.

Secondly, he eyeballed the North Korea leader in the type of conversation that only (former) leaders can have, in an attempt to get information that has eluded the world since Pyongyang pulled out of a negotiated nuclear disarmament process and returned to its threatening posture through a series of nuclear and missile tests - what does North Korea want? Is it the direct dialogue with Washington that has been refused until now, or is there more? Aid? Legitimacy? What is going on in the mind of the leader of the world's most secretive state?

Third, beyond this North Korean trip lurks Mr Obama's nuclear disarmament agenda. This concerns his negotiations with Russia, which in turn are part of his long-term strategy to put pressure on Iran - and others who might be tempted to go down the nuclear arms route - to give up its suspected nuclear weapons programme. The matter is urgent because, according to the UN nuclear watchdog, the Iranians already have enough low-enriched uranium to switch to a military programme and produce a small bomb if they decided to break out of UN safeguards and follow North Korea down that road.

The contested re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has done nothing to assuage Western fears. Governments around the world are already preparing for the next major opportunity to turn the screws on Iran. Although Washington is talking about harsh economic sanctions that could be discussed with its partners at the end of next month if Iran fails to halt its uranium enrichment programme, all eyes are on a global review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) next spring.

The last such conference, four years ago, collapsed in acrimony as non-nuclear states rallied behind Iran. The argument centres on whether the "recognised" nuclear powers have done enough on their side of the treaty's "grand bargain" to take steps towards nuclear disarmament. At the conference in 2005, non-nuclear weapons states insisted that they had not.

The big five hope that, in the next few months, they will have done enough to build up their credibility so that Iran will be subjected to a sustained push from the rest of the world to back down.

All looks quiet on the surface, but the nuclear powers - who also happen to be the permanent five security council members - are already paddling frantically. The British government last month issued a "Roadmap to 2010" in which it called for Israel to join the NPT, something the Israeli government has refused to do. But the the British prime minister's hint that he would put the renewal of Trident on the negotiating table was more significant, and clearly linked in private briefings to the NPT negotiations. Hopefully he will be more forthcoming at a nuclear security conference convened by Mr Obama next March, and encourage fellow nuclear weapons states to follow suit. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France last year announced reductions in the French nuclear arsenal and has highlighted the near completion of the dismantling of fissile material production facilities. Russia and the US have embarked on negotiations to replace the Start treaty on strategic nuclear arsenals in the hope of reaching agreement by December when the existing pact expires.

As with Mr Clinton's mission, there have been voices in Washington accusing Mr Obama of giving in to the Russians. But this view again neglects the fact that the US president has his eye on the bigger prize - a reduction of the global nuclear danger and successfully persuading states such as Iran to curb their nuclear ambitions. He has pledged to work towards Senate ratification of the treaty banning underground nuclear test explosions, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. And he is to address the UN security council on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation at the United Nations on Sept 24, after delivering his address to the General Assembly.

And so, to Mr Clinton, aka the UN envoy to Haiti, who suddenly popped up in Pyongyang. As president, he had earlier harboured hopes of visiting North Korea where he sent his secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, in 2000. It is no accident that not only John Podesta, Mr Clinton's former chief of staff, but David Straub, a former head of the Korea desk at the State Department, were part of his delegation.

The downside, of course, is that it can be argued that once again the North Koreans are being rewarded for bad behaviour and nuclear blackmail. And imagine how the Japanese must feel, without a Clinton who will fly to North Korea and bring back the remaining abductees stolen from their families by North Korean spies.

But by initiating this dialogue, Mr Obama could bring predictability to a situation that has inflamed Asia and stirred fears that, amid its secretive succession rites, the North Korean regime could lash out in dangerous ways. Mr Obama has reached out to his former antagonist in order to play to Mr Clinton's strengths. And he may have taken another step along the road to nuclear disarmament. Believe me, the Iranians are watching.

  • Anne Penketh is Washington Programme Director for the British American Security Information Council.
Read more!

THE HISTORY OF BURMA'S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS

The push for nuclear technology started way back in the 1950s and continues today

Writer: By Aung Zaw
Published: 9/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum

Reports of Burma's shady nuclear ambitions have resurfaced to take their place alongside warnings by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of secret military ties and possible technology transfers between Burma and North Korea.

UNKNOWN CARGO: The North Korean freighter ‘Kang Nam I’ docked at Burma International Terminal’s Thilawa port, south of Rangoon.

However, to understand the present situation and Burma's nuclear ambitions we need to look at the past. Burma's interest in nuclear science and technology is, in fact, nothing new.

Three years ago, The Irrawaddy published a cover story on Burma's nuclear ambitions. A Burmese scholar, Maung Thuta, wrote: ''More than five decades ago, Kyaw Nyein, the pragmatic modernist among the ruling triumvirate, with U Nu and Ba Swe, and the driving force behind Burma's nascent industrialisation, oversaw the setting up in 1953, under the Ministry of Industry, of the Union of Burma Applied Research Institute (UBAEC), in collaboration with the American Armour Research Foundation.''

In 1955, the Atomic Energy Centre and the Atomic Minerals Department were established and dozens of young scholars and technicians were sent abroad, mainly to the US, to study medical physics, nuclear physics, nuclear, metallurgical and mining engineering and technical training in nuclear applications in instrumentation, agriculture and industry. The same year Burma attended the first international conference on peaceful uses of atomic energy, which was held in Geneva. Two years later, Burma joined the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Maung Thuta, in an article entitled ''Transparency Needed'', wrote ''at the dawn of the 'Atomic Age', Burma's nuclear elites centred around the UBAEC apparently had no doubts about propelling Burma into a modern industrial state through extensive research and development in the fields of power production, agriculture, medicine, industry and education''.

Indeed, Burma was well advanced in those days to develop a nuclear project, compared with neighbouring countries. In the early 1960s, a site for a nuclear research reactor was designated near the Hlaing Campus in Rangoon.

''However, the first phase of nuclear ambitions faltered and stagnated within a few years when the much-vaunted 'Pyidawthar' industrial plan failed and UBAEC patron Kyaw Nyein fell from grace amid disputes among the ruling political elite,'' Maung Thuta wrote.

Burma's early nuclear ambitions ended there. General Ne Win, who staged a military coup in 1962, had little interest in nuclear projects, nor did he trust scholars. So Burma's nuclear programme fell by the wayside, although in 1984 the general admitted to university professors at a private dinner party that he had made a blunder by ending it.

One of the experts from those times, Thein Oo Po Saw, who earned a master's degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois in the 1950s, remains active in Burma today.

He played a crucial role in reviving Burma's Atomic Energy Committee and renewing links with the IAEA. He also urged the regime in 1995 to join the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training in Nuclear Science and Technology in Asia and the Pacific (RCA).

The professor has taught at the Defence Services Academy in Maymyo and is now an adviser to the Ministry of Science and Tech nology and adjunct professor at the Yangon (Rangoon) Technological University.

Whatever the motives involved, the regime revitalised the nuclear project. Thein Oo Po Saw,renewed links with the IAEA. Since then, Burma has been demonstrating its intention to develop nuclear energy for ''peaceful purposes''.

The regime has outwardly supported the concept of nuclear-free zones and signed the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, or Bangkok Treaty, in 1995. A year later, Burma signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Burma's renewed interest in nuclear technology was evident, however. The Ministry of Science and Technology was created in 1997, and headed by an extreme nationalist, U Thaung, a graduate of the Defence Services Academy Intake 1.

Two years later, Burma began negotiations with Russia on a nuclear reactor project, and in January, 2002, the military regime confirmed plans to build a nuclear research reactor for peaceful purposes. The Deputy Foreign Minister at that time, Khin Maung Win, declared that Burma's ''interest in nuclear energy for peaceful purpose is longstanding''.

Thein Oo Po Saw also played a key role in the military-sponsored National Convention where he discussed a chapter of the draft constitution relating to the defence of the Union of Burma. He and several professional colleagues made an interesting suggestion.

The chapter under discussion on March 3, 2005, covered seven key points on national defence, including chemical and biological weapons.

The professor suggested an addition to the chapter to cover the ''prevention of terrorist acts and pressures'' in enacting laws regarding ''the defence of the Union of Myanmar

[Burma] and of its every part, and to prepare a defence programme''.

That programme would potentially include ''conventional arms, ammunition and explosives, and non-conventional sophisticated strategic arms'' as well as ''nuclear energy, nuclear fuel and radiation, and mineral resources that produce them, highly classified materials, objects, areas, technologies, researches and information and special security issues, accidents concerning the persons whose work involves highly classified materials, objects, areas, technologies, researches and information, and compensation and insurance coverage for them in case of accidents'', according to a report in state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar.

Aung Toe, the chairman of the National Convention Convening Work Committee, replied by saying that such a programme _ particularly a nuclear one _ would incur international criticism if it was included in the chapter on defence and security.

Aung Toe's prediction was not wrong. Now some press reports _ including one published in Spectrum _ suggest that Burma is on the way to possessing a nuclear bomb.

The lack of transparency in Burma's nuclear programme, and the regime's repressive nature, only increased the suspicions of international critics and dissident groups.

Aside from Thein Oo Po Saw, Burma's nuclear project has been developed by Minister U Thaung, who signed the reactor agreement in Moscow with Russian counterpart Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's atomic agency. U Thaung is known to be close to junta chief Snr Gen Than Shwe and his deputy, Vice Snr Gen Maung Aye.

U Thaung has in-depth knowledge of Bur ma's mining and uranium sectors, and resigned his army post to become director general of the country's Department of Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration in the 1980s.

U Thaung visited Moscow several times in the past in pursuit of the nuclear deal. He also organised students and army officers to participate in nuclear orientation and training in Moscow. In 2006, nuclear physics departments were established in the universities of Rangoon and Mandalay, with enrolment controlled by the regime.

In 2006, Russia's ambassador to Burma, Dr Mikhail M Mgeladze, confirmed that about 2,000 Burmese students had been admitted to 11 academic institutions in Russia, under a bilateral agreement, and about 500 had returned to Burma with bachelor's, master's or doctorate degrees.

Russian companies are also actively involved in the search for uranium in upper Burma.

In the early 2000s, the regime confirmed publicly that uranium deposits had been found in several areas: Magwe, Taungdwingyi, Kyaukphygon and Paongpyin in Mogok, and Kyauksin and in the southern Tenasserim Division.

The Russian companies Zarubezhneft, Itera, Kalmykia and the state-owned enterprise Tyazhpromexport have been involved in oil and gas exploration and the establishment of a plant to produce cast iron in Shan State. Tyazhpromexport's investment alone is worth about US$150 million.

Aside from Russia, Burma's renewed diplomatic relations and secret military ties with North Korea no doubt heightened suspicions. Washington has repeatedly warned of nuclear technology transfer between the two nations.

In April, 2007, a North Korean freighter, the Kang Nam I, docked at Thilawa port, 30km south of Rangoon. Interestingly, Burmese officials said the ship, the first to visit Burma since the restoration of diplomatic relations, sought shelter from a storm. Two local reporters working for a Japanese news agency were briefly detained and turned back when they went to the port to investigate.

The Kang Nam I headed for Burma again recently, but turned back after being shadowed by a US destroyer in the harsh light of international attention.

The April, 2007, incident wasn't the first time a North Korean ship reported running into trouble in Burmese waters _ by a strange coincidence, the North Korean cargo vessel M V Bong Hoafan sought shelter from a storm and anchored at a Burmese port in November, 2006. The regime reported that an on-board inspection had ''found no suspicious material or military equipment''.

Indeed, to sceptics, the go-ahead for the nuclear reactor project, the arrival of North Korean ships and shady military ties (The Irrawaddy exposed one particular trip made to Pyonyang by Gen Shwe Mann in November, 2008, with exclusive photos) are new developments.

It is premature, however, to conclude that Burma intends to undertake the complicated and perilous process of reprocessing uranium to get weapons-grade plutonium, although strong suspicions remain and will continue to grow. Although there are unofficial reports that Burma has set a goal of becoming a nuclear nation by 2025, it is still unclear whether the regime intends to develop nuclear weapons. More solid evidence needs to emerge _ and, no doubt, Thein Oo Po Saw, U Thaung and Gen Maung Aye, who oversees the nuclear project, could provide it.

It is legitimate, however, to raise the issue and to inquire into the regime's intentions, in the interests of keeping nuclear technology out of the hands of the irresponsible regime.

Read more!

What to do with The Lady

Delays in the trial of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi have fuelled the rumour mill about what the secretive junta is really up to as elections draw closer

Writer: By Larry Jagan
Published: 9/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum

The delay in the trial of Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has fuelled intense speculation about why the military junta is dragging out the court ruling and what its real agenda is. As Burma's top general Than Shwe has often told subordinates, international pressure "is like an elastic band" - when it's pulled tight nothing should be done as it only makes matters worse. When the elastic band is relaxed "we proceed with our plans".

There is no doubt that the international pressure is very taut at the moment, and the delaying tactics appear to fit neatly into Than Shwe's strategy of dealing with the opposition leader's continued detention. But he must know that the campaign in support of Aung San Suu Kyi will not subside.

The democracy icon is poised to learn her fate on Tuesday when the judges reconvene their secret court inside Insein prison. She is on trial for allegedly breaking the conditions of her house arrest, when she gave food and shelter to an uninvited American who swam to her lakeside residence. If found guilty, she faces a maximum of five years in jail.

The verdict was originally scheduled to be announced more than a week ago, but the court postponed its decision on the grounds that it needed more time to consider the legal arguments in relation to the 1974 constitution - which Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers insist is no longer relevant.

There is no doubt that one of the regime's main concerns is the possibility of street protests when the verdict is announced. The state-run media warned the public against protesting for several days before the scheduled court verdict last week. They particularly wanted to avoid the Aug 8 anniversary of the mass pro-democracy movement which toppled the previous military ruler, Ne Win.

Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Bangkok-based Burma researcher, said the delay could be a tactic to "bait any potential demonstrators or activists anticipating a guilty verdict to identify themselves, and then switch the date of the verdict so there is enough time to crack down on them".

At least 30 National League for Democracy (NLD) activists were arrested in Rangoon and other towns on the eve of the original verdict hearing, although many have since been released.

Some Burma watchers say that Aung San Suu Kyi being found guilty is a fait accompli.

"These charges are a complete and crude fabrication, a pretext to keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in detention," the former UN human rights rapporteur for Burma, Professor Paulo Pinheiro, told Spectrum.

British ambassador to Burma Mark Canning, who completed his posting there last month, said: "The trial has been entirely scripted and the end already decided before hand," he said after a rare occasion when he was allowed to attend the court hearing.

Public sentiment echoes that of the diplomats. "No one is in any doubt about the outcome," said Moe Moe, a taxi driver in the country's main commercial city.

"Those men in green in Naypyidaw [the new capital] know she is the people's hero and the real leader of this country."

But is it as cut and dried as the diplomats would have us believe, or is Than Shwe unsure of how to handle the case with one eye on next year's election and the ongoing problem Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters would present him with after a transition to his homegrown version of "democracy"?

Than Shwe plans to announce the formation of an interim government that will hold administrative power for at least one year, until the elections are staged, according to senior military sources in Naypyidaw.

He and other senior generals around him, especially Maung Aye, plan to stand down when the time is right, after the elections planned for next year. New houses are being built for them near Maymeo. The regional commander has confiscated large tracts of land there and new residences for the top military brass are already being built, according to Burmese military sources.

All government ministries have been told to complete all their outstanding work by the end of August, especially the preparation of statistical information.

Aung Thaung, the minister and a close confidant of Than Shwe's, recently told his deputies that there would be a new government soon, and he may no longer be the minister. Most of the current crop of ministers have also told their staff they will no longer be ministers by the end of the year. It is understood that members of the interim government will not be allowed to run in the elections, which is why the ministers will resign their posts and not take part in the pre-election administration.

"According to Than Shwe's plans, all the current ministers will have to resign, if they are to join a political party and fight the forthcoming elections," said the independent Burmese academic, Win Min.

Many analysts believe Than Shwe has been waiting for the verdict to further marginalise Aung San Suu Kyi before proceeding with his plans for a a civilian administration ahead of the elections. "The whole country will really be surprised to see how power is handed over," he reportedly told a high-ranking visiting foreign official.

So far there have been no hints as to who will be in the interim administration. Some analysts speculate that it may even include a senior member of the NLD - which would then preclude them from running for office in next year's elections.

This would also be one way of giving this body credibility - both nationally and internationally. It is possible that Than Shwe wants Aung San Suu Kyi herself to participate in the interim administration, a senior government official recently told Spectrum.

For Than Shwe, there is another major consideration - what to do with Aung San Suu Kyi after the elections. While it may be relatively easy to keep her locked up until then, the problem is that releasing her afterwards would only ensure she would be an enormous thorn in the side of any civilian government.

So Than Shwe's plans must involve finding a way to neutralise her and at the same time give her her freedom. That is the key issue Than Shwe now has to grapple with, and until he decides what to do with her, she will remain in detention.

The timing of the election is crucial to what happens next week. All indications are that it is likely to take place towards the end of next year. So the further away it is, the more likely it is that the process will be drawn out - first a verdict, then another delay before sentencing, and appeals to the high court.

If Than Shwe is considering ways to co-opt Aung San Suu Kyi, then there must be secret talks or contact between the two. Leading opposition figures in Rangoon, including her lawyers, categorically dismiss these suggestions. Diplomats are equally sceptical.

"But if there were such talks I wouldn't tell diplomats - and certainly not journalists," a western diplomat in Rangoon told Spectrum. After all, it took months for news of the regime's secret talks with Aung San Suu Kyi to emerge, when she was under house arrest in 2000. Those, brokered by the UN envoy Razali Ismail, led to her release in May 2002.

"Whatever happens, Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed before the elections take place," claimed a senior government official with close links to Than Shwe.

Read more!

JI's leading bomber Noordin Top reported killed

Writer: AFP
Published: 8/08/2009 at 06:46 PM

Beji, Indonesia - Asian terror suspect Noordin Mohammed Top was killed during a raid on his hideout by heavily armed counter-terrorism police in Indonesia on Saturday, Metro TV reported.

At least three people were believed to have been killed in the raid, according to an AFP reporter at the scene who saw two body bags being removed and a third body lying exposed outside the house in rural Central Java.

Elite police special forces were reportedly seen shaking hands and congratulating each other after they stormed the squat, single-storey abode on the edge of a vast rice paddy shortly before 10am (0300 GMT, 11am Singapore).

Police surrounded the house at 4pm on Friday after arresting two people at a nearby market who were reported to be relatives of the tenant of the property.

The property suffered extensive damage, with the windows and roof smashed, the front door blown away and bullet holes throughout.

The end of the operation came after the arrests of Noordin's alleged accomplices in Jakarta and the death of two men recruited to be suicide bombers for his network during a raid on a house outside the capital, police said.

The two would-be bombers, accused of involvement in the 2004 attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta which killed 10 people, were shot dead by police as they prepared to throw home-made bombs during the raid early Saturday.

A man who booked the room used by bombers before they attacked the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on July 17, killing seven people, was among three other Noordin accomplices arrested earlier, police said.

Malaysian Islamist Noordin is one of Asia's most-wanted terror suspects and is accused of multiple attacks in Indonesia since 2003 which have killed around 50 people, including last month's suicide blasts in Jakarta.

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"Antraeng Dol Na Hoeuy?" A Poem by Hin Sithan)

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TRUE LOVE 그건 사실이 아니 누가 사랑을 깨닫게됩니다,





















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