Smart Tunnel Toll Collection Begins Midnight Friday

KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 - Toll collection at the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) motorway will start at midnight on Friday and the rate will be announced shortly, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said.

"I'll announce the toll rate at a news conference in one or two days," he told reporters after opening the Hindu Dharma Mamandram national delegates' meeting in Batu Caves here Sunday.

Asked whether the government would guarantee that the toll rate would be reasonable and would not burden the public, Samy Vellu said they should understand that the cost of building a road tunnel was higher than that of a normal highway.

"I can't guarantee you that there'll be a reasonable toll because it cost a lot of money to build the tunnel," he said.

The RM1.9 billion project between Jalan Sungai Besi and Jalan Ampang includes a road tunnel costing 3.3kmRM650 million. Road users have been using the motorway for free since May 14.

Samy Vellu said the public had the option of using the road tunnel for speedier travel or other existing roads.

The 9.7km SMART project is meant to divert rain water away from the city centre to prevent flash floods and alleviate traffic congestion, especially for those coming into the city from the south.

Najib, Rosmah Attend Brunei Royal Couple's Bersanding Ceremony

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, June 10 - Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor today attended the ceremony of the "bersanding"Brunei Sultan's fourth princess, Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah and Pengiran Khairul Khalil Pengiran Syed Jaafari.

Najib and Rosmah were seated in the front at Balai Singgahsana Indera Buana of Istana Nurul Iman along with the Crown Prince of Brunei Paduka Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Al-Muhtadee Billah and his consort Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Sarah and the sultan's princes dan princesses.

The deputy prime minister and his wife later flew to Sabah to attend an official function there. They will return here tomorrow to attend the royal banquet at the royal banquet hall of Istana Nurul Iman.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his wife Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah and Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud would also attend the banquet.

Also present at today's bersanding ceremony were Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, his wife and members of the foreign diplomatic corps based here.

Thailand, Malaysia To Ink Education MoU

BANGKOK, June 9 - After years of informal ties in the education field, Malaysia and Thailand are expected to sign a historic memorandum of understanding (MoU) in August to pave the way for closer cooperation and exchange of expertise between their educators.

The formal collaboration comes in the wake of the two neighbours ushering in their 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year.

The MoU is expected to be finalised and signed when Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont visits Malaysia in August.

Deputy Director-General of Education (School Division) Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom led 12 Education Ministry senior officials to explore areas of cooperation during their five-day visit to Thailand which ended today.

Alimuddin said the MoU was the result of a recent meeting between Malaysian Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and his Thai counterpart Prof Dr Wichit Srisa-an here and in Kuala Lumpur last month.

"Many schools and institutions in both countries have exchange programmes and cooperation for many years. In view of that, the ministers felt there is a need for formal cooperation that will benefit the two countries," he said in an interview here.

Alimuddin said the MoU would, among others, touch on academic cooperation and exchange of staff, experts, teachers and students, promoting linkages between cluster schools and organising training programmes for teachers.

He said one of the important areas of cooperation involves religious schools as Dr Wichit had sought Malaysia's help to further develop the religious school system in Thailand, especially in the restive south.

"Dr Wichit was impressed with our religious school system that gives equal importance to both religious studies and normal syllabus.

"He wants to implement a similar model in Thailand," he said.

Alimuddin said Thai officials are also keen to learn from Malaysia the teaching of science and mathematics in English.

In return, he said, Malaysia hopes to learn from Thailand the examination and evaluation systems for arts schools, which are new in Malaysia, as well as special education.

In August, 500 scouts from Malaysian schools bordering Thailand would join 1,500 scouts from the southern provinces in the Thai-Malaysia Border Scouts Jamboree in Songkhla.

S'pore Detains "Self-Radicalised" S'porean, Four JI Members Under ISA

SINGAPORE, June 8 - Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD) has arrested a 28-year-old man whom it described as a "self-radicalised' Singaporean who had made specific plans to pursue "militant jihad" in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement tonight that Abdul Basheer Abdul Kader, an ex-lecturer, was arrested in February this year and subsequently detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The ISD had also arrested and placed under ISA four Jemaah Islamiyah members between November last year and February this year, including one whom the ministry said had "undergone JI training in Malaysia".

The ministry said Abdul Basheer studied and practised law after graduation and later became a lecturer in an educational institution.

"From late 2004, he began developing the mindset that he had to wage 'militant jihad' in a land where Muslims were under attack. His views were shaped by the radical discourse that he avidly looked up on the Internet," the ministry said.

In October 2006, Abdul Basheer left Singapore for a Middle-Eastern country. "He planned to live there for two years, learning Arabic so that he could communicate with Mujahidin fighters," the ministry said.

He was arrested and repatriated to Singapore "before he could embark on his violent agenda".

Meanwhile, the four JI members detained under the ISA are Ishak Mohamed Noohu, Mohamed Hussain Saynudin, Mohamed Yassin Mohamed Nooh and Ibrahim Mohd Noor.

TNB Beat BJSS 3-1, E&Y Edge Maybank 2-1

KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 - Former champions Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), despite taking off on a promising start, only managed to beat underdogs Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) boys 3-1 in the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) Division One match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil here today.

The power house broke down the school boys' defence as early as the fifth minute through Mohd Fairuz Ramli while midfielder Kevinder Singh rammed home the second goal barely two minutes later.

Kevinder Singh made it 3-0 for TNB in the 18th minute when he touched home another in the 18th minute off a field attempt.

BJSS' solitary strike was courtesy of Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin in the 48th minute.

In another Division One match, defending league champions Ernst and Young (E&Y) fought hard to edge Maybank 2-1.

However, it was Maybank who took the lead through Chairil Anwar Abdul Aziz in the sixth minute but E&Y equalised five minutes later through their penalty corner specialist Zulkifli Mohamad Rejab.

The second half saw E&Y struggling to break into Maybank's semi-circle and finally found their loop hole in the 60th minute through Ismail Abu to collect the full three points.

"We were cautious in the first half and conceded a goal. We charged back and got the equaliser. In the second half, I told the boys to go all-out and they got the winning goal late in the second half. It was a close game but I'm glad we collected full points today," said E&Y's coach K. Dharmaraj.

In Division Two, Jurutera Letrik Jentera (JLJ) steamrolled Royal Malaysian Air Force(RMAF) 7-1 at the Tun Razak Hockey Stadium while SUKSES Selangor could only manage a 2-2 draw with Dolphins at Klang.

In another match, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) secured a slim 1-0 win over Renjers at the Sungai Petani pitch while Kedah Hockey Association Nur Insafi managed to overcome MSN Terengganu 3-2.

At the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Batu Pahat beat Royal Malay Regiment 4-3.

US sued over 'ghost prisoners'

Six human rights groups are suing the US government seeking more details of 39 people they claim were detained in anti-terror operations, and have since gone 'missing'.

Amnesty International and the others said they have compiled evidence to show the "ghost detainees" were either in or have been in US custody, Al Jazeera's John Terrett reports.

The move comes after a US civil rights group last month filed a suit against a subsidiary of aircraft manufacturer Boeing for aiding the CIA in flying the suspects to detention facilities.

Most of those arrested in the months following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York are held at Guantanamo Bay, the US naval base in Cuba.

Detainee list

The groups on Thursday published the list of 39 detainees based on information gleaned from interviews with former prisoners and officials in the US, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen.

Amnesty says it is not sure if the missing prisoners are in any US detention facility, claiming their report offers evidence that Washington has been lying.

"For its part, the CIA has always maintained that it operates in strict accord with American law," Sean Casey, a US State Department spokesman, said.

George Bush, the US president, had late last year acknowledged the existence of secret detention centres but did not specify any locations.

The rights groups say the men were among those captured in highly controversial "renditions" in which suspects were detained outside the US and flown to top secret American jails around the world.

European probe

In Europe, a Swiss senator heading an investigation into alleged CIA secret prisons and flights in Europe is expected to present on Friday new findings on what he calls a "spider's web" of human rights abuses.

Dick Marty, who is leading an inquiry on behalf of the Council of Europe, had spoken to former CIA agents to corroborate his earlier accusations that CIA planes landed in Poland and Romania to drop off detainees, a source familiar with the investigation said.

The European Parliament came to the same conclusion after completing its own investigation in February.

Both the Polish and Romanian governments have vehemently denied Marty's allegations.

Last year, he accused 14 European nations of colluding to help the CIA spirit terror suspects to illegal detention facilities, and said European governments "did not seem particularly eager to establish" the facts.

While details of most of the detainees remained sketchy, information for at least 21 of the detainees had been confirmed by two or more independent sources, Anne Fitzgerald, a senior adviser for Amnesty International, said.

Right restored

Meanwhile in Washington on Thursday, the US Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed a bill that will restore basic legal rights to inmates of Guantanamo Bay detainees, allowing the accused to challenge their detention in a US court.

The move came days after the US administration suffered a severe legal setback in its 'war on terror' after a military tribunal dismissed charges against two Guantanamo inmates.

"Habeas corpus was recklessly undermined in last year's legislation," Senator Patrick Leahy, the Judiciary Committee chairman, said. "I hope that the new Senate will reconsider this historic error in judgment and set the matter right."

Judges who heard both cases on Monday ruled they had no jurisdiction to proceed with military commission trials as neither inmate was classified as an "unlawful enemy combatant".

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a joint Russian-US base to detect missile attacks in a startling proposal to overcome a crisis between the two countries.

Putin offered President George W. Bush the joint use of a Russian radar base in Azerbaijan as an alternative to plans for a US missile shield in central Europe.

Russia has angrily opposed the planned US shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and Putin had threatened to return to the Cold War policy of aiming Russian missiles at European targets, if it was deployed.

Putin said a joint base would "remove the need, would allow us to not change our policy on non-targeting of our missiles."

Putin and Bush met Thursday on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in Heiligendamm, Germany in a bid to rescue relations which were at a post-Cold War low amid their missile defence wrangling.

Bush found the Russian offer "interesting" and proposed experts from the two countries examine it, his national security advisor, Stephen Hadley, said later.

Bush himself told journalists that the two leaders would pursue their "strategic dialogue" at talks at the Bush family home in the United States in early July.

Putin said he had spoken on Wednesday to the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, who had agreed that the Gabalin base rented by Russia could also be jointly used by the United States.

Russia says it is the target of the proposed US shield in Europe while the United States insists its system is to guard against an attack by Iran or North Korea.

"We have an understanding of common threats but there are differences over the means for overcoming these threats," Putin said after the talks, with Bush at his side.

The Russian leader insisted that the US and Russian military could detect any long-range missile test by Iran and would then have up to five years to set up a joint base before there was any major threat.

Putin argued that the Azerbaijan-based system would cover all of Europe rather than just parts of it and that any missile debris would fall in the ocean rather than on land in Europe.

He said locating the base in Azerbaijan would ease Russian concerns about a missile shield on its frontier in Europe.

But he insisted that the new system had to be "transparently" shared and that the strategic concerns of both sides had to be taken into account.

Putin warned the United States not to start building the system in Europe while negotiations with Moscow take place. "We hope these consultations will not serve as cover for some unilateral action," Putin said.

Bush said that his Russian counterpart had made "some interesting suggestions" during the talks.

"As a result of our discussions, we both agreed to have a strategic dialogue, an opportunity to share ideas and concerns between our State Department, Defence Department and military people."

The US president said there would have to be "a serious set of strategic discussions."

The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, whose country is at the centre of the political storm, said Putin had finally recognised that the concept of anti-missile defence is "useful."

"The most important thing is his (Putin's) will to seek agreement," Topolanek said in a statement.

Putin's foreign policy advisor, Sergei Prikhodko, said Moscow now hoped for "a positive response to our very far-reaching offer."

According to Prikhodko, "it seemed to me this initiative was met with very great interest from President Bush."

The US national security advisor said it was too early to predict where the talks with Russia would lead.

Referring to the reaction in Poland and the Czech Republic, he told reporters: "There are a lot of questions that they are going to have and a lot of questions that we are going to have."

Hadley said Putin's proposal had been a sign that both sides "wanted to de-escalate the tension on these issues."

Immigration bill fails key test, is withdrawn

WASHINGTON - A broad immigration bill to legalize millions of people unlawfully in the United States failed a crucial test vote in the Senate Thursday, a stunning setback that could spell its defeat for the year.

The vote was 45-50 against limiting debate on the bill, 15 short of the 60 that the bill's supporters needed to prevail. Most Republicans voted to block Democrats' efforts to bring the bill to a final vote.

The legislation, which had been endorsed by President Bush, would tighten borders, institute a new system to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers and give as many as 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status.

Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nevada, who had made no secret of his distaste for parts of the bill, said he would withdraw it but keep working toward eventual passage.

"I, even though disappointed, look forward to passing this bill," Reid said. But he said he needs help from the White House.

"This is the president's bill," Reid said. "... We can't do it alone over here. We need some help."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, urged Reid not to give up on the legislation, but allow debate on amendments to continue in order to resolve the objections of conservative senators.

"This is a complicated bill, but the key to passage is not complicated," McConnell said.

McConnell said all that's needed is a "reasonable number of additional roll-call votes" on amendments.

"We're not that far away from being able to get cloture on the bill," he said.

Conceived by an improbable coalition that nicknamed the deal a "grand bargain," the measure exposed deep rifts within both parties and is loathed by most GOP conservatives.

Most Republicans voted against ending debate, saying they needed more time to make the bill tougher with tighter border security measures and a more arduous legalization process for unlawful immigrants.

All but a handful of Democrats supported the move, but they, too, were holding their noses at provisions of the bill. Many of them argued it makes second-class citizens of a new crop of temporary workers and rips apart families by prioritizing employability over blood ties in future immigration.

Still, they had argued that the measure, on balance, was worth advancing.

"We can all find different aspects of this legislation that we differ with," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the leading Democratic architect of the bill.
Amendments bandied about all day

Proponents in both parties had scrambled to find a way of reversing a blow their compromise sustained earlier Thursday, when the Senate voted to phase out the bill's temporary worker program after five years.

The 49-48 vote came two weeks after the Senate, also by a one-vote margin, rejected the same amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan. The North Dakota Democrat says immigrants take many jobs Americans could fill.

Business interests and their congressional allies were already angry that the temporary worker program had been cut in half from its original 400,000-person-a-year target.

A five-year sunset, they said, could knock the legs from the precarious bipartisan coalition aligned with the White House. The Dorgan amendment "is a tremendous problem, but it's correctable," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania.

Until the Dorgan vote was tallied, Specter and other proponents had enjoyed a fairly good day.

They had turned back a bid to reduce the number of illegal immigrants who could gain lawful status. They also defeated an effort to postpone the bill's shift to an emphasis on education and skills among visa applicants as opposed to family connections.

And they fended off an amendment, by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, that would have ended a new point system for those seeking permanent resident "green cards" after five years rather than 14 years.

All three amendments were seen as potentially fatal blows to the bill, which would tighten borders, hike penalties for those who hire illegals and give many of the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status.

The Senate voted 51-46 to reject a proposal by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to bar criminals -- including those ordered by judges to be deported -- from gaining legal status. Democrats siphoned support from Cornyn's proposal by winning adoption, 66-32, of a rival version that would bar a more limited set of criminals, including certain gang members and sex offenders, from gaining legalization.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, alone among his party's presidential aspirants in backing the immigration measure, opposed Cornyn's bid and backed the Democratic alternative offered by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts.

Senators also rejected a proposal by Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, that would have delayed the bill's shift in favor of attracting foreign workers with needed skills as opposed to keeping families together. Menendez won 53 votes, seven short of the 60 needed under a Senate procedural rule invoked by his opponents.

Menendez's proposal would have allowed more than 800,000 people who had applied for permanent legal status by the beginning of 2007 to obtain green cards based purely on their family connections -- a preference the bill ends for most relatives who got in line after May 2005.

Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, fell short in her bid to remove limits on visas for the spouses and minor children of immigrants with permanent resident status.

While several Cornyn amendments failed, he prevailed on one matter opposed by the grand bargainers. That amendment, adopted 57 to 39, would make it easier to locate and deport illegal immigrants whose visa applications are rejected.

The bill would have barred law enforcement agencies from seeing applications for so-called Z visas, which can lead to citizenship if granted. Cornyn said legal authorities should know if applicants have criminal records that would warrant their deportation.

Opponents said eligible applicants might be afraid to file applications if they believe they are connected to deportation actions. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said in an interview that Cornyn's amendment was "not a deal-killer" but would have to be changed in House-Senate negotiations.

PM's Marriage Solemnisation Ceremony At Noon Saturday

PUTRAJAYA, June 8 - The akad nikah between (marriage solemnisation ceremony)Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Jeanne Abdullah at Seri Perdana here will be held at noon Saturday.

The matter came to light when Abdullah corrected Internal Security Ministry Secretary-General Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof's remarks on the time of the wedding at the ministry's excellent service awards presentation here Friday.

"It's at noon," Abdullah said upon hearing Abdul Aziz mentioning in his speech that the ceremony would take place in the morning.

The Prime Minister's Office had only announced the date of the wedding without specifying the time.

To be attended by close relatives, the wedding will be a modest affair.

Wedding Turns Tragic, 5 Killed, 9 Injured When Man Fires At Crowd

SONG (Sarawak), June 7 - Five people were killed and nine others injured when an enraged man fired at the crowd attending a wedding reception in a longhouse here Wednesday night.

Song Police Chief ASP Entusa Iman said a 36-year-old Indonesian man married to the longhouse chief's daughter suddenly opened fired at the crowd over a misunderstanding.

Preliminary investigations revealed the man fired four shots from a shotgun from outside the longhouse at "Ruai" or public gallery where the guests had gathered for the reception.

He then went into the "Ruai" to fire another shot in the 9pm incident at the "Rh.Enchan", a longhouse in Ulu Engkabau, Katibas, a 10-minute ride upriver by longboat from here and another one hour on foot, he said.

Of the nine injured, two sustained serious injuries, Entusa said. All of them have been admitted to the Kapit Hospital.

The bodies of the dead have also been sent to the same hospital for post-mortem but their identities have not been released.

The Indonesian surrendered to the police at about 1.20am Thursday.

On the probable reason for the carnage, Entusa said he was told that some youths had persistently teased the Indonesian over his statelessness during the Gawai dayak celebrations at the longhouse over the past four days.

"Probably he could not take it anymore," he said of the Indonesian who does not have an identity card. He has three daughters.

Entusa could not tell if any of the youths were among those killed or injured in the incident.

"The bride and the bridegroom are safe," he added.