Apology over Hitler slur

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s opposition apologised on Friday for an election advertisement that compared President Chen Shui-bian to Hitler after it was condemned by the island’s small Jewish community. Hitler’s photograph featured prominently in five full-page newspaper advertisements for the Kuomintang-led (KMT) opposition that called on voters to end Chen’s “dictatorship” on the March 20 polling day. The KMT apologised to the Jewish community over the ad but said it would not apologise to the president. — AFP

One killed, three hurt

JAKARTA: Unidentified motorcycle riders have slashed one person to death and wounded three others on a village road in Indonesia’s restive Central Sulawesi province, police said on Friday. “If they passed somebody they slashed them,” Agus Sugianto, the provincial police spokesman, said. The separate attacks happened on Thursday night in two locations on a country road in Donggala district. Police believe the slasher was a pillion rider on the motorcycle. — AFP

Indonesia defends ruling

JAKARTA: Responding to international criticism, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Friday defended the Supreme Court’s decision to halve a three-year jail sentence on militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. “We have to distinguish between a label that someone is involved in terrorism and the legal process which requires hard evidence,” he said. He did not respond directly when asked about an Asian Wall Street Journal report which said new information allegedly implicating Bashir in planning attacks has emerged from the questioning of top terror suspect Hambali. — AFP

Guards hurt civilians

JAKARTA: Presidential security guards shot and wounded two civilians during a “road rage” incident in the Indonesian capital, a police officer and media reports said on Friday. Police are investigating Thursday’s incident involving a private vehicle and another one carrying several presidential guards, said Fajar, an intelligence officer with the national police. “We are still investigating the identity of the guards. Forensic reports shows that the bullets used were .45 calibre,” he said. He did not give details of the victims. The guards were not escorting the president at that time. — AFP

Lifer for drug trafficker

JAKARTA: An Indonesian court has jailed a Lesotho national for life for trafficking heroin, a court official said on Friday. The court in Tangerang just west of Jakarta passed the sentence on Thursday on Joseph Ndaba, 35, said the official, Mujizat. He said the court also jailed for 15 years an Indonesian woman who was Ndaba’s girlfriend and dealer. Police arrested Ndaba last May after his girlfriend was caught trying to sell 250 grams of heroin. — AFP

Fraud victims raise fund

SINGAPORE: A group of fraud victims in Singapore raised 1.5 million Singapore dollars to bail out a man involved in a scam that cost them 3.6 million dollars, the Straits Times reported on Friday. The group declined to explain their action although a victim said it could mean they were trying to get back their money. The bail means that Wong Hang Kean, 37, will start his five-and-a-half-year jail term on March 31 but his accomplice, Caren Ng, will serve her seven-year jail sentence immediately. — AFP

Man held at Pak airport

LAHORE: Authorities arrested a Nigerian man at a Pakistan airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 41 kg of heroin to Dubai, a senior official said on Friday. The 28-year-old, who’d hidden the drug in cell phones and phone chargers, was detained on Thursday night at Lahore Airport, said Brig Ashfaq-ur-Rahman, head of the country’s Anti-Narcotics Force. “We had received ... information that a Nigerian national will try to smuggle heroin to the United Arab Emirates,” he said. “We acted on this information, and arrested Yemi.” — AP