Asia Briefs: Opposition leader in 1MDB probe

Opposition leader in 1MDB probe

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysian police are seeking to question opposition leader Nurul Izzah Anwar after newspaper reports claimed that she had offered to buy stolen data on transactions between the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and oil exploration firm PetroSaudi International.

The New Straits Times and Berita Harian alleged that Ms Nurul Izzah, who is in the United States, had offered US$2 million (S$2.8 million) to former PetroSaudi employee Xavier Andre Justo in future contracts, in exchange for information he had stolen from his employer, The Malaysian Insider news site reported yesterday.

Justo, a Swiss national, is now serving a three-year jail term in Bangkok, Thailand, after admitting to blackmailing PetroSaudi.


US warns N. Korea over nuclear reactor

WASHINGTON • The United States said on Wednesday North Korea will face "severe consequences" if it continues with what Washington sees as its provocative decision to restart a nuclear reactor.

Pyongyang said it has restarted the mothballed Yongbyon reactor - capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium - and has also threatened to launch a rocket the US sees as a test-bed for ballistic missile technology.

When fully operational the reactor is capable of producing around 6kg of plutonium a year - enough for one nuclear bomb, experts say.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


Police blame terror group for murders

JAKARTA • National Police chief Badrodin Haiti has revealed that a group led by fugitive terrorist Santoso was responsible for the murder of three people in Central Sulawesi this week.

The killings, committed between Sunday and Tuesday, were part of a revenge attack for an exchange of gunfire between the group and police in the Poso regency in August, said General Badrodin yesterday.

The shoot-out killed a member of the terrorist group and a police officer.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK


Sri Lanka to extend China-funded deal

COLOMBO • Sri Lanka yesterday said that it had decided to extend the agreement of a China-funded multibillion-dollar port city project in capital Colombo by another six months.

Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told reporters that the agreement signed between the Sri Lankan government and the China Communications Construction Company in September last year had expired on Tuesday.

Diplomatic ties between Sri Lanka and China were strained when work on the US$1.4 billion (S$1.9 billion) Port City project was halted soon after President Maithripala Sirisena took office in January as it lacked proper permits and approvals, Reuters reported.

XINHUA

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 18, 2015, with the headline Asia Briefs: Opposition leader in 1MDB probe. Subscribe