Musharraf’s warning

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has issued a fresh warning to the country’s controversial religious schools, or madrassas, telling them not to harbour Islamic militants, state media said on Tuesday.Musharraf said security forces had already seized a number of suspects from madrassas in the turbulent tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. — AFP

Babies swapped

KUALA LUMPUR:

A Malaysian couple has claimed their newborn baby boy was swapped for a girl at a hospital which recently made headlines after a baby was kidnapped there, reports said on Tuesday. Azman Hassan, 31, said a nurse showed him a baby boy after his wife Resliana Manalu, 28, gave birth on Saturday at Sungai Petani Hospital in the northern state of Kedah. — AFP

Two shot dead

YALA:

Two men, a Buddhist and a Muslim, were shot dead and a policeman and a defence volunteer were wounded by a bomb blast in separate attacks in Thailand’s restive south on Tuesday, officials said. Buddhist construction worker Kasem Noimor, 24, was shot dead by two suspected militants in Narathiwat province. The Muslim village headman of Pasemat village, Ya Bueraheng, was shot dead by two gunmen in Sungai Kolok district of Narathiwat province. — AFP