JAKARTA - A RUSSIAN national held by kidnappers for nearly a week was freed and his captors arrested in a raid in Indonesia's capital, police said on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old Russian man, identified by the Russian embassy as Alexander, was rescued from a house in Jakarta's outskirts after he was abducted by a gang on arrival at Soekarno-Hatta international airport on Friday, police detective Mohammed Iriawan said.

BANGKOK - NEW Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Wednesday he would launch a 'grand plan of reconciliation' to take the country forward economically and politically after months of turmoil.

Mr Abhisit was making his first public comments since Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej signed a royal decree appointing him as premier, two days after the Oxford-educated economist won a parliamentary vote.

BANGKOK - THAI customs have charged an Australian man with smuggling drugs after arresting him at a Bangkok airport with packs of heroin allegedly strapped to his body, officials said on Wednesday.