1. recent problems with terrorism in Malaysia: church attacks (danger to Christians), terrorist threats in tourist areas (danger to foreigners)…some stories here.
What is the message being conveyed? terrorist lurk in these beautiful muslim countries. muslim terrorists have it in for christians. foreigners are not safe in muslim countries, no matter how lovely the beaches and scuba diving. this is the narrative.
rum bottle thrown at Malaysian mosque amid tension
Vandals threw a rum bottle at a mosque in the first attack on a Muslim house of worship after almost a dozen similar assaults on churches in Malaysia the past week, police said Saturday. Police have dismissed the attacks as vandalism, but they have caused disquiet in multiracial Malaysia and raised fears of more widespread religious tensions….The government has condemned the attacks and assured Christians, who make up some 9 percent of Malaysia’s population, they are safe. But the attacks aren’t abating. The office of lawyers representing the Herald in their legal fight was also ransacked earlier this week.
2. Malaysian authorities dismiss warnings in tourist areas, extensive coverage with armed men presumably highly visible to tourists in Sabah
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN authorities have full control over security in the Borneo island state of Sabah, a government official was quoted on Saturday as saying after the United States embassy warned of attacks against foreigners. ‘Since the last travel warning was issued in the area, security and intelligence there had been tightened tremendously and there had been no reported attempts or acts of terror, including against foreigners,’ National Security Council secretary Mohamed Tajudeen Abdul Wahab was quoted as saying by New Straits Times. The National Security Council is an agency within the Prime Minister’s Department. In a ‘warden notice’ posted on its website, dated on Friday, the US embassy said resorts located in isolated areas of eastern Sabah, a state bordering the southern Philippines, were of’present concern’. It identified areas such as Semporna and the islands of Mabul and Sipadan, as well as travel to and from the area. Mr Tajudeen said military and police intelligence had not shown imminent attacks against any part of the country. — REUTERS
3. Malaysia summons US envoy over the warning
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA has summoned a US diplomat over a travel advisory that warned of terrorist attacks targeting Borneo tourist destinations, a senior official said on Monday. The US embassy in Kuala Lumpur said on Friday there were indications that criminal and terrorist groups are planning strikes in isolated areas of eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, including the diving resort of Sipadan. Malaysian authorities have played down the warning, saying that security measures and intelligence-gathering in the area have been dramatically increased since foreign hostages were snatched in 2000.
Tan Tai Heng, head of the foreign ministry’s information department, said a US embassy official was expected to arrive at the ministry later Monday for discussions over the issue. ‘It could be (the US ambassador) or a representative of the US embassy,’ he told AFP. The US mission was not immediately able to comment. Tens of thousands of Westerners visit the state of Sabah annually, attracted by its scenery and world-class diving, especially in the waters off Sipadan, which lies close to the troubled southern Philippines. Other foreign countries have warned their citizens of the threat of attacks in Sabah - which lies in Malaysia’s half of Borneo which is split with Indonesia - but the US advisory was more specific on the areas targeted. It identified the destinations of Semporna, Mabul and Sipadan and called on citizens to ‘please avoid or use extreme caution in connection with any travel in these areas or locations.’ — AFP
4. oh by the way, 39,000 Indian tourists “missing” in Malaysia after their visas expire. loopholes? we have loopholes.
PUTRAJAYA - SOME 39,000 Indian nationals had ‘gone missing’ in Malaysia after their tourist visas expired. Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday they had gone missing from the Immigration Department’s records, according to an estimate drawn up in June. That was why the department was not keen on visa-on-arrival for Indians as the facility had been abused, especially by those from Chennai, he said.
‘Those who came to Malaysia through the visa-on-arrival (VOI) facility could be back in India or among the people here, (maybe) working in Indian restaurants. ‘We don’t know where these people are. They’re probably still in Malaysia for economic reasons,’ he said in an interview with visiting Indian journalists at his office here. Mr Najib said he might take up the issue during his three-day official visit to India beginning on Tuesday. Between September 2006 and September 2008, 75,645 of the 248,939 foreigners who were issued VOA misused their visas. They were from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. — BERNAMA
5. meanwhile: Philippine police wound, arrest US murder suspect Jason Ivler
An American man wanted in the Philippines for allegedly killing a government official’s son in a road-rage shooting was critically wounded Monday when he opened fire at police officers trying to arrest him, officials said. Two police agents also were wounded when authorities swooped down on Jason Ivler’s parents’ house in a Manila suburb, triggering a shootout with the suspect, who was hiding in the basement, said National Bureau of Investigation spokesman Ricardo Diaz. Ivler was arrested and taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said. He was undergoing surgery.Ivler, 28, from Hawaii, is accused of fatally shooting the son of an official working in President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s office following an argument during a traffic altercation Nov. 18 in Manila. Even before that, police were looking for Ivler on a separate homicide charge in connection with a 2004 car crash that killed a senior official in the president’s office. Following the November incident, authorities offered a reward for Ivler’s capture and began a manhunt, even as his mother claimed he had fled to Hawaii. The mother, Marlene Aguillar, sister of popular Filipino singer Freddy Aguilar, was taken into custody Monday for obstruction of justice, police said.
6. flashback: various items in the news re: Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand — Maguindanao massacre — see cached page here
At the time, Ivler was driving a car with diplomatic plates owned by his stepfather, Stephen Pollard, an executive at the Asian Development Bank, San Diego said.
Pollard’s diplomatic immunity did not extend to his son, said national police chief Jesus Verzosa, adding Ivler’s photograph and details were distributed to all ports and airports to prevent him from escaping. He was described as “armed and dangerous.”
Even before the latest incident, police were looking for Ivler on a separate charge of “reckless imprudence resulting in homicide” in connection with a 2004 car crash that killed a senior official in the president’s office, Verzosa said.
Ivler was arrested in 2004 while trying to flee to Malaysia but later jumped bail, Verzosa said.
7. many more details: Jason Ivler, a thug runs out of luck in Manila
After a gunfight in the exclusive Blue Ridge area of Manila, the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation arrested Jason Aguilar-Ivler, a fugitive Filipino-American and nephew of Filipino pop star Freddie Aguilar. Ivler is accused of killing the son of a high-level government official last November in a road rage incident. Ivler apparently was critically wounded in the gunfight, as were two NBI agents.
Ivler has been in hiding since November after he allegedly gunned down Renato Victor Ebarle Jr, the son of Undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr., who works in the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff. According to witnesses, the younger Ebarle was chased down and shot after an argument because his car was in Ivler’s way.
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