Malaysia tribesman being paid to poach tigers: WWF

Asian Defense News: KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - – Tribesmen in Malaysia are being paid by syndicates to trap wildlife, including critically endangered tigers, to meet insatiable demand from China, a conservationist said Wednesday.
"Local tribesmen are being used by the middlemen to collect the forest products as they are familiar with the jungle," said Dionysius Sharma, executive director with WWF-Malaysia.
"The demand for wildlife from Asia's forests to be used in China for traditional medicine is strong," he told AFP.
As China's society becomes more affluent, the demand for exotic animals to be used in traditional remedies for illnesses such as heart disease and asthma is expanding rapidly.
Sharma said the poachers, often members of Malaysia's indigenous peoples, do not have the resources to market the animal parts, or smuggle them out of the country.
"The tribesmen receive a small sum of money but the middlemen reap lots of profit," he said, adding that the syndicates were not identified, but likely involved both foreigners and Malaysians.
Sharma's remarks come after a four-year-old male tiger which had injured a Semai tribesman in northern Malaysia last week was found dead with gunshot, spear and snare wounds.
Yok Meneh, who sustained a deep gash on his back and injuries to his hands and legs, said he fought off the injured beast armed only with a rock after it attacked him while he was out picking wild beans.
But Shabrina Shariff, wildlife department director in Perak state told AFP Wednesday that Yok Meneh was in fact part of a group of seven men who had snared the tiger but came under attack when they tried to kill it.
"He was among the tribesmen who trapped the tiger. They shot the tiger four times. Then they used the poisonous spear and blowpipe darts to kill it," she said.
Shabrina said the tribesmen were "promised thousands of ringgit", the Malaysian currency, by unidentified middlemen and admitted to killing another tiger and a panther previously.
Sharma said poachers from other nations were also hunting for wildlife in Malaysian jungles.
"There is a lot of evidence that hunters from Thailand and Vietnam are setting traps in Malaysia. We have found their camps and hunting equipment. They spend a long time in the jungles. They are very organised," she said.
Loretta Ann Shepherd, coordinator with the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers, pressed for swift action.
"It is a sad way to welcome the Year of the Tiger. The authorities should prosecute those responsible. Let it be a lesson for other poachers," she said this week.
Conservationists last month called for a war on the poachers who are undermining Malaysia's ambitious goal to double its population of wild tigers to 1,000.
With 2010 declared the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac, experts fear there will be a surge in tiger poaching.
In the 1950s, there were as many as 3,000 tigers in Malaysia but their numbers fell as the country opened up more land for agriculture.

Malaysia cautious of Iranians after drug arrests

Asian Defense News: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian airport authorities have stepped up surveillance on Iranian travelers after dozens were held this year on suspicion of smuggling drugs, officials said Thursday.
Six Iranians were arrested this week alone for allegedly having methamphetamines while arriving on four separate flights at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, said Nordin Kadir, head of the police narcotics department in central Selangor state.
"It is a very big number," Nordin said, adding there were indications the Iranians were catering to a rising demand for methamphetamines among Malaysian drug-users.
The suspects face death by hanging if convicted of drug trafficking, though none has been charged yet because police haven't completed their investigations.
Those detained all came from Tehran and made transit stops in Bahrain and Dubai, Nordin said. Most of the drugs were hidden in the suspects' luggage. One man allegedly had eight packets of methampethamines sewn into his jacket, he said.
So far this year, 41 Iranians have been held for allegedly smuggling nearly 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of methamphetamines worth up to $6.5 million into Malaysia, said Othman Harun, deputy police chief of the federal narcotics department. For the whole of last year, 24 Iranians were detained for similar offenses.
Police have deployed more officers to monitor Iranian travelers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Othman said.
A Malaysian and two Singaporeans believed linked to Iranian smugglers were arrested Tuesday at an airport outside Kuala Lumpur, Othman said. They were on the way to the Philippines when allegedly found with 80 pounds (36 kilograms) of methamphetamines in their luggage, he said.

(By JULIA ZAPPEI,Associated Press Writer - Thursday, February 12)

Honda airbag fault fuels Japan's auto woes

Asian Defense News: TOKYO (AFP) - February 12– Honda, Japan's second-biggest carmaker after crisis-hit Toyota, Wednesday recalled more than 400,000 vehicles to fix airbags that it said can explode and spray out potentially deadly metal shards.
The recall, the third related to the defect since late 2008, includes top-selling Accord and Civic cars sold in the United States and Canada as well as models marketed in Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Australia.
Honda said the defective airbag inflators could rupture, "resulting in metal fragments passing through the airbag cushion material and possibly causing injury or fatality to vehicle occupants".
The expanded recall of 437,763 vehicles covers models made in 2001 and 2002, mostly in North America, and also includes family-friendly models such as the Odyssey and CR-V.
Honda said it knew of 12 incidents involving the defect and one fatality, but added that there had been no new reports since last year.
The latest safety recall adds to the woes of Japan's auto industry, a key export earner of Asia's largest economy, with Toyota making global headlines over its faulty accelerator and brake systems.
"The industry perspective of this is no one likes to see another competitor be put through that," said Mark Reuss, president of GM's North American division.
"We like to have a healthy industry and we like to be able to compete on a level playing field."
Toyota on Tuesday expanded its global recall to over 400,000 of its Prius and other petrol-electric hybrid models. The world's biggest car maker has now pledged to fix 8.7 million vehicles worldwide. Related article: Toyota announces mass Prius recall
Toyota dealers in Japan have started fixing software problems that can make brakes slow to respond in the third-generation Prius, the company's flagship hybrid.
The company will suspend production of Lexus HS250h and Sai hybrids from Saturday, after deciding to stop sales of those models in Japan while Toyota engineers work on improving the vehicles' safety.
Toyota has also said it is recalling more than 7,000 Camry sedans with power steering problems in the United States, while US authorities say they are "reviewing" complaints about steering problems from Corolla drivers.
Company president Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the Toyota founder, has publicly apologised and plans to fly to the United States soon, where his company faces a congressional grilling and a host of lawsuits. Related article: Toyota boss 'expected to testify' in Congress
US Representative Darrell Issa said Wednesday Toyoda should meet personally with US lawmakers eager to "hear directly" from him about the auto giant's woes.
Issa, the top Republican on a House of Representatives committee looking into the company's handling of dangerous defects, said he would ask the panel's chairman to invite Toyoda to Washington to take part in a February 24 hearing on the matter.
"Given the number of outstanding questions surrounding Toyotas relationship with US regulators and in the best interests of moving forward, Id like to help facilitate a dialogue between Mr Toyoda and lawmakers from both parties and both chambers," said the lawmaker.
Angry US consumers and Congress members claim Toyota knew about the dangerous problem of "sticky accelerators" for years but was slow to respond until it was forced into action by federal authorities.
Japan's centre-left government -- which took power last year promising to put the interests of consumers before those of big business -- has also ramped up pressure on Toyota, one of Japan's most iconic companies.
The Asahi Shimbun daily reported that a contrite Toyota had turned down an energy efficiency award from the government in light of the recall troubles.
Hans Greimel, the Asia editor of Automotive News, said Toyota, a company not used to crises, was enduring a "perfect storm" after looking unstoppable during its rise to global dominance. Related article: Toyota crisis hits hometown
"They are having their first operating loss in 70 years. Now their quality has been questioned like never before," he said. "It is a classic fall-from-grace story."

Japan FM apologises for colonial rule over Korea

Asian Defense News: SEOUL (AFP) February 12 - – Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada made a strongly-worded apology Thursday for his country's "tragic" 20th century colonisation of Korea, saying his government would not ignore history.
"I think it was a tragic incident for Koreans when they were deprived of their nation and identity," he told a press conference after talks with his South Korean counterpart Yu Myung-Hwan.
"I can fully understand the feelings of Koreans and I believe we must never forget such victims," Okada said.
The two countries, he said, should make a "meaningful turning point" in relations this year, the 100th anniversary of Japan's occupation which lasted until its wartime defeat in 1945.
Okada said his government "will look forward to the future without looking away from past history and sincerely develop a future-oriented relationship between Japan and South Korea".
South Korean officials have also said Okada's trip would mark the beginning of efforts by both countries to put the past behind them.
Yu said they would build a more forward-looking and friendly relationship while making sincere efforts to address thorny disputes of the past.
They would push for regular summits between President Lee Myung-Bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
Japan has often been criticised by its neighbours for glossing over atrocities before and during World War II.
Hatoyama has sought to ease tensions by pledging not to visit a Tokyo war shrine at the centre of past rows.
Some older Koreans have bitter memories of the colonial period when Japan ruthlessly suppressed resistance movements and tried to eradicate Korean culture, even forcing people at one point to change their names.
Ties have also been strained by Japan's reasserted claims over a tiny chain of Seoul-controlled islands known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.

Sanctions stay until North Korea talks - South, Japan

Asian Defense News: SEOUL - Sanctions on North Korea will not be removed until Pyongyang returns to disarmament talks and takes serious steps towards scrapping its nuclear arms programme, the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan said on Thursday.
The comments come as the North's top nuclear envoy is in Beijing in a sign the destitute state may soon end its year-long boycott of six-country disarmament-for-aid nuclear talks hosted by its key ally, China.
North Korea has come under increasing pressure to return to the forum where it can win rewards for rolling back its nuclear programme as U.N. sanctions imposed after a nuclear test last year dry up its coffers and a currency revaluation in late 2009 adds to its economic woes.
"We shared the view that North Korea needs to take denuclearisation steps in order for there to be peace treaty talks and the lifting of sanctions," Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told a briefing in Seoul.
North Korea has called for a peace treaty with United States to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War as a condition to returning to the disarmament deal that it signed in 2005 in return for massive economic aid.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said the five countries in negotiations with the North aimed to keep up the pressure through sanctions while continuing to pursue dialogue to prod it back to the talks.
The talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China and began in 2003. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's new government has no plans to contribute financially to the disarmament-for-aid deal until North Korea resolves the issue of Japanese nationals it kidnapped decades ago, a Japanese official said.
"The issue of abduction is as important as the nuclear or missile issues for Japan," Kazuo Kodama, director general for press relations for the Foreign Ministry, told reporters.
South Korea has criticised Japan for not joining other partners in providing aid to the North to reward it for reducing the security threat it poses to the region while Pyongyang has said Japan should be removed entirely from the talks.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told a visiting Chinese envoy this week that his country was willing to talk about how to restart the stalled international process.
Some analysts said the dispatch of Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, who represents the North at the six-way forum, to Beijing indicated that the two countries were working out a face-saving measure for Pyongyang to return to dialogue.

(Reuters - Friday, February 12 By Jack Kim)

Indonesian said "God is great" as hotels attacked

Asian Defense News: JAKARTA - An Indonesian suspect went on trial on Wednesday charged in connection with bomb attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta and a plan to assassinate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Amir Abdillah, 34, is the first to appear of a group of defendants believed to have taken orders from Noordin Mohammad Top, the head of a violent wing of militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah, which police said was behind the attacks.
State prosecutor Totok Bambang told South Jakarta Court Abdillah helped other group members to launch suicide bomb attacks at the Ritz Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels in July 2009, in which 11 people were killed, including the suicide bombers, and 53 wounded.
"The defendant was involved and was aware of the plan and the implementation of the terror acts... The defendant also knew there would be another bombing targeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono," another prosecutor, Kiki Ahmad Yani, told the court.
Prosecutors said Abdillah was nearby on the morning of the hotel attacks, and, according to his statements to police, said "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great," before and after the bombs exploded.
Abdillah had told police that Top, who was killed by police in a raid in September, had ordered the attacks on the hotels, and had planned to assassinate the president using a car bomb shortly afterwards.
Under Indonesian law, the maximum penalty for abetting acts of terrorism is death.
Jemaah Islamiah, which is believed to want to create an Islamic state linking Muslim communities in Southeast Asia, has in the past been linked to al Qaeda.
It was blamed for a string of attacks that killed hundreds of civilians, including the bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004 and of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in 2003.
Although many of the leaders of Top's ring have been killed in police raids, the special anti-terror detachment police say Indonesia still faces a considerable threat.

(Reuters - Wednesday, February 12 By Telly Nathalia)

Fortune tellers: Year of Tiger isn't Tiger's year

Asian Defense News: HONG KONG – It's the Year of the Tiger, but Chinese fortune tellers say it'll be a rough patch for the world's most famous one: disgraced golfer Tiger Woods.
Other predictions: trying times for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, turmoil in the financial markets, spikes in fire-related natural disasters and a crucial period for U.S. President Barack Obama.
Under the school of feng shui _ the traditional Chinese practice of predicting fortunes through dates and classical Chinese texts _ the new lunar year starting Sunday is associated with the natural elements of metal, wood, thunder and fire. Metal is a symbol of righteous action _ like waging war. Thunder and fire symbolize volatility, while wood feeds the fire.
It's a recipe for geopolitical tensions and drastic market movements, feng shui experts say.
"People will try to take on the strong and help the weak. They will try to help their fellow brothers. They will help friends who are being bullied. This year will be more violent," Hong Kong feng shui adviser Raymond Lo said, noting that the previous Year of the Tiger associated with metal was 1950 _ the year the Korean War broke out.
Fellow Hong Kong soothsayer Chow Hon-ming expects more terrorist attacks.
Fires and explosions are more likely in the coming year, Lo said, also warning that Iran and North Korea may step up their nuclear ambitions. Kuala Lumpur-based Yap Boh Chu said beware of earthquakes, volcanoes and "metal-related accidents" like car crashes, armed robbery and industrial accidents.
Markets will remain topsy-turvy as the world recovers from the U.S. financial crisis, but on balance they will post decent results, the forecasters say.
"When the markets rise, they will rise fiercely and when they drop, they will drop dramatically," Chow said.
Yap said investors will be jittery throughout the year.
"You're always in firefighting mode. You're always reacting," the Malaysian said. "It's like a tiger stalking you. You always have to be aware of it."
The Chinese zodiac operates on a rotation of 12 different signs, or animals. People who are entering a year whose sign is the same as their birth year's are considered "in clash" and may have bad luck, according to feng shui belief. But while Chinese fortune tellers give tigers a conservative outlook this year, the zodiac sign that causes the most serious conflict this year is the monkey.
The most notable monkey in world politics is Ban. The South Korean "will face a lot of trouble this year," Lo said. Other famous monkeys include Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, NBA star Yao Ming, singers Diana Ross, Celine Dion and actors Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Hanks, Michael Douglas, Owen Wilson and Daniel Craig.
The world's best-known "tiger" _ American golfer Tiger Woods _ actually isn't a tiger nor a monkey, according to the lunar calendar. Born Dec. 30, 1975, the 14-time major winner is a rabbit.
But Woods' birth date is associated with metal, which clashes with the presence of metal in the coming lunar year. So after admitting to cheating on his wife and taking an indefinite leave from golf in December, the 34-year-old can expect more personal trouble this year, predictions say.
"His long-term fortune is on the decline," Lo said.
As for Obama, there are differing interpretations. The American president's birthday is Aug. 4, 1961, making him an ox. According to Lo, the tiger is a lucky "nobleman" for people born in years ending in the digit "1" and Obama's birth date is associated with the natural element of earth, which is complementary with metal because minerals come from the earth.
"He will shine with flying colors," Lo said, adding that the American leader will become more aggressive in pushing his agenda. "His foreign policy may be tougher."
Yap disagrees, saying that the presence of thunder and fire traditionally represents the "arrival of the king" _ a metaphor for a fierce battle for leadership. The Malaysian called the Year of the Tiger a turning point for the Democrat, whose push for health care reform was threatened by the recent election of a Republican senator in Massachusetts that denied Democrats a 60-vote majority in the chamber.
"He will have a bloody hard time this year. If he survives this year, the rest of his term will be no problem. This is a crux year," Yap said.

(By MIN LEE,Associated Press Writer - Tuesday, February 12)