SOUTHEAST ASIA

VIETNAM, AMERICA TO COOPERATE ON TERROR INTELLIGENCE, CRIME

HANOI, Vietnam – Once enemies in battle, Vietnam and America will cooperate in the exchange of intelligence on terrorism and transnational crime, and Vietnam will send military officers for training in America, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said yesterday on the eve of the first trip to America by a Vietnamese Communist leader.

The intelligence and military cooperation agreements will be announced when Mr. Khai visits next week, marking the highest level visit to America since the communists won the war in 1975. He will meet with President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld on Tuesday.

The move to forge solid military ties between Vietnam and America shows how far the relationship has advanced in the 10 years since President Clinton established formal diplomatic relations. The trip will be a milestone, analysts said, a signal that a mature relationship based on mutual interests in security and trade is beginning to take shape.

“During the war, Vietnam and the United States were opponents,” Mr. Khai said during a 75-minute interview at his office in the capital, which is within walking distance of the mausoleum holding the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh, the independence leader and North Vietnamese president during the war.

“Now that 30 years have elapsed since the end of the war, it is our policy to put aside the past and look to the future and a better relationship between the two countries,” he said.

Mr. Khai, an economic modernizer, will meet Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft Corporation, and ring the bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

He will also face questions about Vietnam’s human rights record. Congressional leaders and leaders in the Vietnamese-American community are pressing Vietnam to allow greater religious and political freedom.

– The Washington Post

MASKED GUNMEN SEIZE CHILDREN AS HOSTAGES, KILLING ONE

SIEM REAP, Cambodia – Masked gunmen seized dozens of children at an international school yesterday in northwestern Cambodia, killing a 3-year-old Canadian boy with a shot to the head before police rescued the hostages, authorities said.

The four attackers stormed Siem Reap International School, grabbed students from several countries, and demanded money, weapons, and a vehicle before police ended the six-hour standoff and took four young gunmen into custody.

Gunfire broke out inside the school, and hostage takers later told police they killed the Canadian boy because he was crying too much. Police moved in after they “threatened to kill the other children one by one,” Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said.

Authorities said they managed to talk the attackers out of the building after giving them a minivan and $30,000 in cash. When the men got into the vehicle with four children, security forces closed the gate to the school compound and launched an assault, yanking the men from the van.

Nearly 40 children, some as young as 2, rushed past the school gate and into the arms of their panic-stricken parents.

– Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

OXFAM PAYS $1M LEVY ON OFF-ROAD VEHICLES FOR TSUNAMI RELIEF

Oxfam has had to pay $1 million in customs duty to the Sri Lankan government for importing 25 four-wheel-drive vehicles to help victims of the December tsunami, the Daily Telegraph has learned.

The sum was levied by customs in Colombo, which has refused to grant tax exemptions to nongovernmental organizations working to repair damage caused by the giant December 26 wave.

The Indian-made Mahindra vehicles, essential to negotiate damaged roads and rough tracks, remained stuck in port at Colombo for almost a month as officials completed the small mountain of paperwork required to release them. Customs charged $5,000 “demurrage” for every day they stood idle.

Oxfam said it had “no choice” but to pay the exorbitant 300% import tax or face further delays to its relief operation.

Sources said that when Oxfam officials tried to reason with the government, the Ministry of Finance offered three options: pay the duty, re-export the vehicles, or hand them over to a ministry of their choice.

– The Daily Telegraph

NORTH AMERICA

MEXICO INVESTIGATES PAKISTANI WANTED BY AMERICA

MEXICO CITY – Mexico is investigating what a Pakistani national, who is wanted by America for allegedly selling anti-aircraft missiles, was doing in a beach community near Tijuana, a spokesman for President Fox said yesterday.

Acting on intelligence provided by America, Mexican authorities captured Arif Durrani earlier this week as he left a restaurant in Playas de Rosarito, near the Tijuana-San Diego border, the spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, said.

Mr. Durrani, 55, had entered Mexico from America but, at the time of his arrest, could not provide documents proving he had done so legally, Mr. Aguilar said.

Mr. Durrani was deported by Mexico late Wednesday, but he was taken into American custody when his flight to Pakistan stopped in Los Angeles. Mr. Aguilar said Mexico has not charged Mr. Durrani with wrongdoing, but its authorities were investigating.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

SPAIN SEEKS DNA SAMPLE FROM IRAQ ON BOMBING SUSPECT

MADRID, Spain – Forensic experts are trying to obtain DNA samples from Iraq to determine if a suspect in the 2004 Madrid train bombings committed a suicide attack there, a police official said yesterday.

The Interior Ministry said Wednesday that five men arrested this week in Spain helped key suspects in the bombing flee Spain, including Mohamed Afalah, a Moroccan whose whereabouts have been unknown since June 2004.

The ministry said that after the bombing, Mr. Afalah made his way to Belgium and Syria, and, after calling his father to warn him and apologize, apparently staged a suicide attack in Iraq sometime between May 12 and 19. The target was not known. The Spanish police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said May 19 was the “more probable” date but did not specify why.

On May 19, a suicide bomber drove his car into an Iraqi army checkpoint in southern Baghdad’s Doura neighborhood, killing one soldier and injuring another eight, according to the Iraqi army.

– Associated Press