Indonesia to hold talks on illegal immigrants

JAKARTA • Indonesia will hold an international meeting on Nov 27 and 28 to discuss the illegal immigrant issue in the region, a report on Tempo.com said yesterday, quoting Foreign Ministry director-general Hasan Kleib.

"We propose Australia, New Zealand and several international organisations to be invited as guests. Countries of origin, such as Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, will also be invited," said Mr Hasan on Monday. The meeting will be focused on solving issues in immigrants' home countries, he added.

Bangladesh hands over rebel leader to India

NEW DELHI • Bangladesh handed over a top separatist leader to India yesterday, officials on both sides said, after the two countries spent almost two decades arguing over his extradition.

Anup Chetia, founder of the separatist United Liberation Front of Asom group, was arrested in 1997 and sentenced to seven years' jail in Bangladesh for his illegal stay in the country.

But Chetia, whose group fought Indian rule of north-east Assam state bordering Bangladesh, spent 11 more years in custody while officials struggled to agree on terms to return him.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Man 'hid in gutter to take upskirt videos'

TOKYO • A man in Japan who hid in a drain for five hours, allegedly to snap photos up women's skirts, was exposed when passers-by spotted his hair sticking out of a grate, police and reports said.

Yasuomi Hirai, 28, squeezed himself into a section of a gutter 28cm wide, with his head under a piece of iron grating, a police spokesman said yesterday.

The alleged upskirt video offence took place in Kobe in August, but police said that Hirai's arrest on Monday came after a lengthy investigation.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE