News Briefs (February 2006)

An Indonesian lawmaker urged Yudhoyono to cancel the visit "as a concrete gesture of support for pro-democracy groups in Myanmar." "If Indonesia doesn't pressure the military regime (by canceling the trip) ... it is the same as giving support," said Yuddi Chrisnandi, a parliamentarian on the security commission. (AP)

Rangoon Bomber Seeks Haven

Kang Min-Chul, one of three North Korean agents responsible for the 1983 assassination attempt on then-South Korean President Chun Doo-Hwan in Rangoon, has expressed a hope to settle in South Korea, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap. Chung Hyung-Keun, a member of South Korea’s opposition Grand National Party and former intelligence agency worker, said recently that the surviving agent, who is currently serving a life sentence in Rangoon, wants to move to South Korea. The opposition lawmaker introduced a petition signed by 56 retired soldiers, civic activists and other ordinary citizens calling for the National Assembly to urge the Seoul government to make efforts to obtain Kang's release and bring him to South Korea.

On October 9, 1983, a powerful bomb demolished the Martyr’s Mausoleum in Rangoon, just before the visiting Chun Doo-Hwan was to pay homage. Chun escaped unhurt, but seventeen South Koreans, including four Cabinet members, were killed instantly. Four Burmese also died. One North Korean agent was shot dead by Burmese security forces while trying to escape, and the other was sentenced to death and hanged. But Kang Min-Chul was kept alive because he had cooperated with the Burmese investigation into the case. North Korea denied involvement but Burma publicly incriminated Pyongyang and cut diplomatic ties.

Indonesians Shoot Doves in Fight against Bird Flu

Indonesians were shooting wild doves and other birds from trees and rooftops in an eastern city Thursday, as they tried to slow the rapid spread of the deadly H5N1 virus in the sprawling archipelago. The bird flu virus has killed 19 people in Indonesia, all in the last nine months, and devastated poultry stocks. Many fear that the virus is being carried by wild birds that infect domestic poultry.

Government officials and local residents started shooting the doves with air rifles in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, after dozens of chickens were found to have died of bird flu there earlier this week. "We have to prevent these birds from carrying the deadly virus," said Sgt Hadi Rohman, one of several security officers who watched as dozens of birds were shot. So far, 500 wild doves, chickens and other birds have been destroyed and hundreds more—all within one kilometer of the outbreak—were being targeted, Rohman said.

The country will take its anti-bird flu fight to the capital Friday, testing thousands of chickens for the virus and slaughtering all birds living within one kilometer of any outbreak.