The following table lists events that have occurred of import in the Eastern Asia region since the last full update released in May 2002, which covered events through October 18, 2002.
 
 

Date	Country	Event Description	Source
05/03/2002	Philippines	Two senior members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group were arrested by Police.	AP
05/05/2002	Philippines	Police raided a suspected Al-Qaida training camp, arrested seven men and seized a weapons cache.	P-AP
05/05/2002	Burma (Myanmar)	Aung Sun Suu Kyi released after more that two years of house arrest	P-AP
05/06/2002	Malaysia	Jafar Umar Thalib, leader of Lasker Jihad terrorist group is arrested	MSNBC
05/08/2002	Philippines, Indonesia,  Malaysia	Trilateral anti-terrorism agreement signed for sharing intelligence on terrorists.	P-AP
05/08/2002	East Timor	Reports of President Bush asking former President Bill Clinton to travel to East Timor as part of an American delegation to celebrate the independence of the new, small island nation.	MSNBC
05/08/2002	China	Jane's Defense says China is manufacuring a new Red Arrow weapon/launcher Anti Tank Guided Weapon (ATGW).	J
05/17/2002	East Timor	Six Indonesian warships preceed Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's visit prior to independence.	P-R
05/30/2002	Philippines	The U.S. has place a $5 million reward has been placed on the heads of Abu Sayaff members	P-CNN
05/30/2002	China	Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz predicts China will grow into a threatening power in East Asia.	P-AP
06/04/2002	Malaysia/U.S.	The CIA told the FBI in January 2000 that one of the Sept. 11 hijackers was attending a meeting of suspected terrorists in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and had a type of visa that should have drawn suspicion, a senior U.S. intelligence official said yesterday, citing e-mails held by the CIA. The disclosure contradicts repeated assertions by senior FBI officials that bureau headquarters had no information about Khalid Almihdhar before Aug. 23, 2001	WP
06/06/2002	Malaysia	A notebook and  correspondence of Moussaoui's not only appears to link him to the main hijacking cell in Hamburg, Germany, but also to an al Qaeda associate in Malaysia whose activities were monitored by the CIA more than a year before the attack on 9/11.	WP
06/07/2002	Philippines	Phillippine Army attempt rescue of American Missionaries and nurse in the Jungles of southern Philippines, killng Abu Sayaff members.  One of the hostages is killed by the kidnappers.
06/20/2002	Malaysia/Indonesia/ Singapore	Federal prosecutors yesterday obtained a superseding indictment against Zacarias Moussaoui, the French citizen accused of conspiracy in the Sept. 11 attacks, changing some dates and dollar figures but making no new allegations. The new indictment adds Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia to the list of countries where al Qaeda operates, and adds the training camp al Farooq in Afghanistan as a place where terrorists were trained.	WP
06/21/2002	Pakistan	Pakistani police working with the FBI arrested seven Arabs suspected of having connections to al Qaeda and detained seven Pakistanis in the investigation into attacks on Americans and other foreigners in Pakistan, officials said yesterday. None of the 14 people has been charged, and it was unclear if the Pakistanis in custody had links to the Arabs. The arrests were part of what appeared to be a security crackdown in Pakistan's largest city	WP
06/22/2002	Philippines	Abu Sabaya, the notorious leader of a Muslim guerrilla gang that has terrorized the southern Philippines with a string of kidnappings, was presumed dead after a firefight at sea today with U.S.-trained forces.  Sabaya, 39, headed a faction of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group that has abducted more than 100 people over the last year. Some captives escaped, some were freed and 18 died, including a California man who was beheaded and a Kansas missionary who was fatally shot in a rescue attempt.	WP
06/23/2002	Malaysia	In a bizarre flip-flop, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced he was resigning from his party's leadership and the governing coalition today, but changed his mind after supporters begged him to stay. The political drama played out on national television and was denounced by the opposition Islamic fundamentalist party as a ploy to gain support before elections that loyalists hope he will call early. Mahathir, 76, has  led Malaysia for 21 years.	WP
06/24/2002	Malaysia	Fadzil Noor, 65, the leader of Malaysia's opposition Islamic fundamentalist party, died June 23 after failing to regain consciousness following heart bypass surgery two weeks ago, hospital officials said. Mr. Fadzil, president of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, underwent five hours of surgery at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur on June 10.	WP
06/24/2002	China	China allowed 26 North Korean refugees holed up in foreign diplomatic compounds to leave the country today for South Korea, ending a fractious and sometimes violent month-long standoff that embarrassed Beijing and underscored the volatility of the Korean peninsula. The decision, announced by the official New China News Agency, marked an about-face from China's recent demands that foreign diplomats hand over the North Koreans to Chinese police.	WP
06/30/2002	Singapore/Malaysia	Singapore's Beach Road no longer overlooks the sea. Hotels and office blocks that once advertised waterfront views now face concrete. Such is life in this small Southeast Asian city-state, which is growing by dumping sand into the surrounding sea. Since separating from Malaysia  in 1965, Singapore has added about 40 square miles of land -- an area about the size of Paris. The neighbors are not impressed.	WP
07/06/2002	Philippine	U.S. troops will train two more Philippine special forces units and instruct an additional eight regular infantry battalions under a new security assistance plan worked out in recent days by political and military authorities in both countries, Pentagon officials said. The plan represents the next phase in a heightened U.S. effort to improve the capabilities of the Philippine military.	WP
07/11/2002	Malaysia	Malaysia's former deputy prime minister lost his appeal on a corruption conviction today but vowed in court that he would someday return to politics and urged his followers to remain steadfast. Anwar Ibrahim, who faces a six-year prison sentence, has claimed that he was the victim of trumped-up charges aimed at preventing him from challenging Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who had groomed Anwar as his successor before firing him in 1998.	WP
07/22/2002	China	The Pentagon is considering steps to intensify military ties with China after indications from Beijing that it will allow more transparency and access in the relationship, according to U.S. defense officials. The move reflects a growing acknowledgment of the importance of improved military ties with China, even as China's drive to modernize its armed forces continues to arouse Pentagon concern.	WP
07/23/2002	Philippines	Police used water cannons and truncheons to battle thousands of protesters today, as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pledged in a speech to end poverty in a decade, work more closely with the U.S. military and arrest criminal kingpins. The demonstrators called for her resignation and demanded an end to the U.S. counterterrorism exercise underway in the southern Philippines. [MILNET: interesting side note, non-militant onlookers aided the police in the confrontation, while protestors, who later claimed the clash was a "popular uprising", came armed with homemade weapons,  indicating the protestors were organized and came to create the conflict -- One should note that much of the populace of Philippines do not agree with protestors, and popular support for the protestors has been falling steadily since 9/11/01.  None of this comment, naturally has been reported by mainstream/western or European media which has, not suprisingly, adopted the position of the protestors as fact.]	WP
07/24/2002	Philippines/U.S.	Five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group were indicted in Washington yesterday in connection with the killings of three hostages in the Philippines, including the death last month of a Kansas missionary during a chaotic rescue operation. The indictment handed up by a federal grand jury charges five rebels, including the group's spiritual leader, with conspiracy resulting in death, hostage-taking and three counts of hostage-taking resulting in death.	WP
07/26/2002	Philippines	The Philippines and the United States could use each other's military bases, buy supplies and exchange services under a proposed 10-year military accord but could not transfer major munitions. A draft of the bilateral Mutual Logistics Support Agreement says its purpose is to make it easier for the two countries' military forces to work together.	WP
07/31/2002	North Korea	Secretary of State Colin L. Powell held informal talks with his North Korean counterpart, Paek Nam Sun, here (Asian Summit in Brunei) this morning, the Bush administration's first high-level contact with a representative of an "axis of evil" country. Both men came to this regional summit saying they  hoped to have what would be a ground-breaking meeting.	WP
08/02/2002	Singapore	A Canadian man accused of organizing a plot to blow up U.S. and Israeli embassies in Singapore is being held in a secret location in the United States, where he is cooperating and revealing information about terrorists' plans, U.S. officials said. The man, Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, 20, a native of Kuwait, was arrested in the Persian Gulf state of Oman and is being held at a military base in the northeastern United States as a material witness, U.S. officials said.	WP
08/03/2002	Indonesia	Three years after the United States severed all ties with Indonesia's tainted armed forces, the Bush administration will resume U.S. military training there as part of a broad program of counterterrorism assistance totaling at least $50 million over the next two years, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Friday in the capital, Jakarta.	WP
08/05/2002	Pakistan	Masked gunmen firing Kalashnikov assault rifles burst through the front gates of a Christian school today, killing six people and wounding three in the latest attack against Western interests since Pakistan joined the U.S.-led war against terrorism. None of the 150 students, including 30 Americans, or the mostly British teaching staff was hurt in the attack against the Murree Christian School in this resort town in the Himalayan foothills, about 35 miles northeast of the capital	WP
08/07/2002	Burma	Burma's ruling junta and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will start substantive talks soon on the country's political future, the U.N. envoy to the country said today. Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail announced the breakthrough after a visit to the capital of Rangoon, where he met Suu Kyi, senior members of the junta and leaders of major ethnic minority groups.	WP
08/13/2002	Philippines	U.S. and Philippine defense leaders agreed yesterday to establish a senior civilian group for coordinating military policy, further strengthening a Pacific alliance that has gained renewed prominence in the Bush administration's global war on terrorism. Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes disclosed the "agreement in principle" after a 45-minute meeting at the Pentagon with his U.S. counterpart, Donald H. Rumsfeld.	WP
08/20/2002	Malyasia/Philippines	In KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Facing rising anger in neighboring Indonesia and the Philippines, the Malaysian government yesterday defended its use of whipping and other tough punishments  aimed at forcing out illegal immigrants. The Philippines formally  protested to Malaysia over reported mistreatment of Philippine migrants after three children died during deportation.	WP
08/20/2002	Singapore	Singapore Politician Loser in Lawsuit; Asia: Opposition leader is convicted of defaming the city-state's premier and senior minister.  A judge ruled that Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan defamed Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong with comments he made while campaigning last year, court documents showed.	LAT
08/21/2002	Philippines	Suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, linked to al Qaeda, kidnapped eight people in the first strike since a six-month U.S. and Philippine campaign against the group, authorities said today. Esmon Suhuri, vice mayor of the southern town of Patikul on Jolo island, said the militant Muslim group yesterday kidnapped five women and three men, all door-to-door cosmetics salespeople.	WP
08/22/2002	Philippines	Muslim guerrillas linked to the al Qaeda terror network have beheaded  two men, both Christian preachers, abducted on a remote southern Philippine island, the military said today. The heads of the two men were found in a jungle on Jolo island where they and six other people were taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas on Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Romeo Tolentino told reporters.	WP
08/25/2002	Singapore	U.S. to Push Strategic Free Trade Agreements; Policy: The White House  will seek pacts with Chile and Singapore, along with other nations, while continuing global and regional negotiations.	LAT
09/04/2002	China	About 15 North Koreans broke into a building complex housing a German school and diplomatic apartments today, in the latest in a string of break-ins by refugees seeking asylum from their communist  homeland. The group climbed over a wall and entered the compound at 3 p.m. as students were getting off from school. A German Embassy official confirmed that the asylum-seekers, who included young and middle-aged men and women, were from North Korea and would be spending the night.	WP
09/06/2002	China	A Chinese government spokesman said yesterday that China and Germany had "reached a consensus" about what to do with 15 North Korean asylum-seekers who sought refuge in a German government school in Beijing. However no details given.	WP
08/09/2002	South Korea	One day after the opposition took control of parliament in a by-election landslide, President Kim Dae Jung named the head of South Korea's largest business newspaper as prime minister, Kim's secretary said today. The appointment of Chang Dae Whan, president of the Maeil Business Newspaper, followed parliament's rejection last week of Kim's previous nominee	WP
09/13/2002	Singapore/Indonesia	U.S. Embassies Were Targets, Suspect Says; Terrorism: Revelations by alleged Al Qaeda envoy to Asia spur closures of six facilities. Man has been handed over to U.S. by Indonesia. Officials said [Omar Faruq] was a liaison between Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah, a regional terror group that planned to carry out seven suicide truck bombings against targets in Singapore, including the U.S. and Israeli embassies. Singapore uncovered the plot late last year and imprisoned 13 participants indefinitely under its strict internal security laws.	LAT
09/17/2002	Singapore	Singapore Holding 21 More Suspected Terrorists; Asia: Government says several men taken into custody last month were trained at Al Qaeda camps. Others allegedly scouted bombing targets. It also was unclear whether the arrests were linked to an alleged Al Qaeda bomb threat that prompted the United States to shut down a number of its embassies in Southeast Asia last week. The embassies in Indonesia and Malaysia reopened Monday under tight security. The embassy in Singapore, which is heavily fortified, did not close.	LAT
09/18/2002	Indonesia	Al Qaeda Behind Indonesia Bombings, Agent Says; Terrorism: Captured Kuwaiti says the network attacked churches and plotted an assassination.	LAT
09/18/2002	China	Shanghai Port, Firm Sign Deal; Asia: China's largest container terminal will be managed by a Sino- Danish partnership.  The partnership between Shanghai and Denmark's APM Terminals signals the enormous interest of multinational firms in capitalizing on Shanghai's extraordinary growth. It also marks the rising importance of Shanghai as a regional economic powerhouse.	LAT
09/19/2002	Indonesia	Indonesian authorities are investigating extensive new information about  al Qaeda operations here following the apprehension of terrorist suspects linked to church bombings as well as to plots to assassinate  Indonesia's president and blow up U.S. embassies here and in other Southeast Asian capitals. The country's military intelligence chief  acknowledged today that an investigation has begun to determine if an  international terrorist network exists in Indonesia	WP
09/20/2002	Singapore	Islamic extremist groups with roots in at least five Southeast Asian  countries have forged a coalition seeking to transform their separate, local struggles into a campaign to establish a single regional Islamic state, Singaporean officials said today. The alliance, formed over the last three years, is the handiwork of Riduan Isamuddin, an Indonesian  militant considered by regional intelligence agencies to be one of al Qaeda's chief operatives in the area	WP
09/20/2002	Singapore	Singapore Cells' Aim Was Jihad; Probe: Islamists arrested last  month planned to ignite a regional holy war, investigators say.	LAT
09/22/2002	Indonesia	15 Die, 10 Wounded in Fireworks Blast -- Six people died instantly in the blast in Kalibakung, 199 miles east of the capital, Jakarta.	LAT
09/23/2002	Malyasia/Indonesia/ Singapore	Abubakar Baasyir is a wanted man in Malaysia and Singapore. The Bush administration is weighing whether to add him to its terrorist list for what intelligence officials say is his leadership of a militant Islamic network linked to al Qaeda. The government in Indonesia, where he lives, faces growing international pressure to arrest him, but fears a Muslim backlash. Details provided by suspects seized in Singapore and Indonesia, revealed this month, implicate him in plots to bomb U.S. targets.	WP
09/28/2002	Indonesia	Indonesia Holds 2 Foreigners; Asia: Local authorities contend U.S. nurse and British academic violated tourist visas by visiting rebel territory. The two say police abused them.	LAT
09/28/2002	East Timor	East Timor Admitted Into U.N.  Jose Alexandre Gusmao, a former guerrilla fighter who spent seven years in jail and under house arrest, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan stood together under an overcast sky as U.N. guards hoisted the country's black, red and yellow flag and a flutist played the Timorese national anthem.	LAT
09/29/2002	East Timor	E. Timor Points a Way for Mideast; Strong U.N. action can lead to a peaceful transfer of power.  In 1975, Indonesia invaded the small Portuguese enclave of East Timor, initiating a military occupation that killed an estimated 200,000 people, close to one-third of the population. The United Nations intervened to conduct a 1999 referendum, in which the nation's people voted overwhelmingly for independence.	LAT
10/02/2002	Philippines	Mindanao blast kills American soldier and two civilians, Abu Sayaff linked to blast	WP
10/05/2002	Pakistan	An independent advisory group funded by the U.S. government has recommended that the administration add India, Laos, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam to its list of countries that restrict religious freedoms.	LAT
10/09/2002	Philippines	Authorities in the Philippines are focusing on a Jordanian man linked to  Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization and the Muslim insurgent group Abu Sayyaf	WP
10/10/2002	Philippines	8 killed, 19 wounded in explosion at bus terminal in Zamboanga on the island of Mindanao.  A police superintendent in the town in the southern Philippines said Communist rebels of the New People's Army, which as been linked to previous attacks at the same bus terminal, are key suspects.	P-BBC
10/11/2002	Indonesia	183 killed, 300+ inujured in popular Bali tourist spot.  Australian, European and American tourists among those injured.  A small homemade bomb exploded outside Paddy's Discotheque, then a huge blast from a jeep like vehicle 30 yards down the street devastated the crowded Sari Club, a surfers' hangout.	FOX
10/11/2002	Sri Lanka	The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam allegedly incited a mob attack on a Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) police camp	P-DM
10/13/2002	Philippines	Sulu island reels from deaths of 11 Philippine Marines killed in a hostage rescue attempt.	WP
10/14/2002	Philippines	Philippine defense chief Gen. Benjamin Defensor said a "preemptive assault" by Filipino troops killed 20 Abu Sayyaf rebels in Lanao del Sur, the Philippine Star reports. The Abu Sayyaf rebels were suspected of linking up with separatists of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Misuari wing of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).	P-PS
10/14/2002	Philippines	Hundreds of U.S. Marines arrived at the former U.S. Navy base at Subic Bay, Philippines, to prepare for exercises with Filipino troops on Luzon, the Tehran Times reports. The two-week exercises, set to begin on Monday, will include 800 Marines from Okinawa and involve artillery live fire, aerial bombardment and jungle survival training.	P-TT
10/17/2002	Philippines	7 killed, 130+ injured in two downtown Zamboanga blasts.  Abu Sayaff thought to be responsible.	FOX
10/17/2002	Philippines	Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has fired Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Ernesto Carolina even as new reports indicate a major Abu Sayyaf commander is preparing to surrender to Manila, Gulf News reports.	P-GN
10/17/2002	North Korea	N. Korea Discloses Secret Nuclear Arms Program; The Communist regime tells visiting U.S. diplomats that it has not abandoned its pursuit of such weapons, in violation of a 1994 pact. Nagging suspicions remained that North Korea could be cheating. In 1998, in response to intelligence reports that North Korea had been digging a massive underground facility in Kumchangri believed to contain a  nuclear weapons development site, the U.S. sent a team of inspectors to see whether the North Koreans were  cheating on their agreement to abandon a nuclear weapons program.	LAT-AP
10/17/2002	Malaysia	Malaysian police detained four suspected members of the Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, reports the Straits Times (Singapore). Two of the detainees are said to have received training in Afghanistan, while another reportedly has ties to Al-Qaida, said Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Norian Mai.	P-TST
10/18/2002	Mynamar (Burma)	Three bombs exploded on Wednesday outside the gates of an army camp in the town of Myawaddy, Myanmar (Burma), opposite the Thai border, UPI reports. Three other bombs were found and defused, said military authorities. There were no injuries. The Myanmar ruling junta blamed the explosions on the Karen National Union (KNU), a Christian-led rebel group engaged in a five- decade-old struggle for autonomy from the central government. KNU leader Mahn Sha denied his group conducted the bombings and suggested the government actually planted the bombs in order to discredit the KNU.	P-UPI
10/18/2002	Philippines	3 killed, 28 injured in Quezon City suburb of Manila, hours after a grenade blast in the downtown financial district.	FOX
10/18/2002	Indonesia	Jakarta moves long standing anti-terror legislation off back burner into an emergency decree signed today.	FOX
10/19/2002	Indonesia	Indonesian Police arrest Abu Bakar Bashir, thought to be the Muslim cleric leading Jemaah Islamiyah, the group belived to be responsible for the October 11 attack that killed 183 in Bali.	MSNBC
10/21/2002	North Korea	North Korea said it is prepared to discuss issues concerning its recently acknowledged nuclear weapons program, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. President of the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium Kim Young-Nam said North Korea is ready to restart discussions if the U.S. is willing to end its hostile policy.	P-AUBC
10/21/2002	Pakistan	A bomb exploded on Sunday in a crowded market west of Islamabad, killing one and wounding at least 10 others, reports the Times of London. The bomb was placed in vegetable bag at the entrance to the market in the town of Kamra.	P-TTOI
10/21/2002	Philippines	A bomb exploded late last week inside a Quezon City bus, killing three and wounding at least 19, reports the Philippine Star. The bus, packed with some 60 passengers, was on its way to the town of Novaliches.	P-PS
10/21/2002	Philippines	BOMB DETONATES OUTSIDE ZAMBOANGA SHRINE (OCT 21/GUAR) THE GUARDIAN -- A bomb exploded outside a Catholic shrine in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga killing a soldier and wounding 18, reports the Guardian (London). The bomb was hidden in a box on a bicycle near the crowded shrine.	P-TGUK
10/22/2002	South Korea	SEOUL, WASHINGTON TO WORK TOGETHER (OCT 22/KIS) KOREAN INFORMATION SERVICE -- South Korea and the U.S. agreed to cooperate to mobilize international pressure on North Korea to halt its recently acknowledged nuclear arms program, reports the Korea Information Service.	P-KIS
10/22/2002	Sri Lanka	Norwegian mediators met with Sri Lankan negotiators for another round of peace talks with the separatist Tamil Tigers, reports the Times of London. They discussed plans for the government to work with the rebels -- officially the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- to clear mines and resettle thousands of displaced persons.	P-TTUK
10/24/2002	Indonesia	The U.S. State Dept. added the Indonesian-based militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah to its list of foreign terrorist organizations, reports the Associated Press.  Such a designation renders financial contributions illegal and bars its members from receiving visas to enter the U.S.  A State Dept. official described Jemaah Islamiyah as a regional terrorist power with links to Al-Qaida and whose members trained in Afghanistan.	P-AP
10/25/2002	North Korea	A week after it acknowledged its secret nuclear weapons program, North Korea said it wants a non-aggression pact with the U.S., reports the Voice of America News. The North Korean Foreign Ministry said it was willing to negotiate with the U.S. over its nuclear program, but Washington must first agree to the new relationship. Pyongyang also laid out two conditions for resolving the latest Korean peninsular crisis: the U.S. must recognize North Korean sovereignty and not hinder its economic development. North Korea still gave no indication that it would comply with U.S. demands to scrap its nuclear weapons program.	P-VOM
10/28/2002	Philippines	Money is being channeled from counter-terror intelligence operations to spy on President Gabriel Arroyo's political rivals, reports the Asia Intelligence Wire. A Philippine military intelligence officer said that his unit has been tasked for the past two years with gathering information on Arroyo's political opponents.	P-AIW
10/29/2002	North Korea	North Korea has refused to scrap its nuclear weapons program, rebuffing a demand from Tokyo, the BBC reports, citing a top Japanese official. "Unless they [scrap the program] quickly, we are saying that our talks will not move forward," warned Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi. The U.S. and Japan have said abandoning the nuclear weapons program is a requirement for normalizing relations, but North Korea says it is entitled to possess the weapons and others that are "more powerful" as a defense against American "hostility."	P-BBC
10/29/2002	South Korea	South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Shin Kuhn said North Korea built up to three nuclear weapons prior to a 1994 agreement with the United States, UPI reports. "North Korea is suspected to have already secured seven to 22 kilograms [15 to 48 pounds] of plutonium before the inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency in May 1992, and produced one to three primitive nuclear bombs," Shin said in a report to parliament.	P-UPI
11/02/2002	Indonesia	Indonesian police started questioning radical Muslim cleric Abu  Bakar Bashir on Saturday over a spate of Christian church bombings and an alleged plot to  assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri.  Bashir is also allegedly the leader of a militant Muslim group some nations have openly fingered  in October’s Bali bombings, though authorities in  Jakarta say he is not a suspect in that attack.	MSNBC
11/20/2002	Indonesia	INDONESIA - REBELS, GOVERNMENT TO SIGN PEACE AGREEMENT NEXT MONTH (NOV 20/CHNA) Separatists from the Aceh province and the Indonesian government are set to sign a peace deal on Dec. 9, reports Channel News Asia.  Rebels from the Free Aceh Movement have been fighting for independence since 1976.	P-CHNA
11/20/2002	South Korea	In an incident sure to raise tensions on the Korean peninsula, a South Korean warship fired warning shots at a North Korean navy ship that crossed the disputed maritime border, ITV reports. The North Korean ship quickly withdrew to its side of the line about 14 minutes after the warning shot from the South Korean ship.	P-ITV
11/21/2002	Indonesia	Indonesian police said they have arrested the man allegedly behind the bombings in Bali that left nearly 200 people dead, the BBC reports. Imam Samudra, a 35-year-old computer expert from West Java, was one of three people arrested in Banten province near Jakarta, police said.  Police said Samudra was the main planner of the group, which allegedly has ties to the Al-Qaida terrorist network, leading the meetings and choosing the target.  Samudra is also suspected of involvement in a string of bombings targeted against churches in Indonesia in 2000.	P-BBC
11/22/2002	Japan	U.S. Air Force and Japanese Self-Defense Force helicopters practiced a search-and-rescue exercise called Keen Look 03 last week at Kadena Air Base, Japan, reports Air Force Print News. The search-and-rescue scenario called for four U.S. pararescue specialists to be dropped in 68-degree water from Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawks and remain afloat for more than 30 minutes. he pararescuers then signal helicopters from the Japanese defense forces to rescue them.	P-US
11/22/2002	Japan,North Korea	Japan plans to launch its first spy satellite in March of next year, reports the Press Association (U.K.). The project will include four earth-observation satellites by next summer. The satellites are intended to be an early warning system to detect North Korean military deployments.	P-PAUK
11/22/2002	New Zealand	New Zealand's Cabinet approved the installation of an unclassified U.S. Air Force radio transmitter and receiver, reports a press release from the New Zealand Ministry of Defense. he most likely location for the high frequency receiver and transmitter is Christchurch, Waiouru, Whenuapai. The equipment will provide a voice-only unencrypted link between aircrews and support personnel on the ground, relating only to aircraft operations and safety.	P
11/22/2002	North Korea	North Korea could make enough plutonium by mid-decade to construct at least 50 nuclear bombs annually if the 1994 agreement with the United States is discarded, the Central Intelligence Agency estimates.  press release from Pyongyang on Thursday said the 1994 Agreed Framework, which places restrictions on North Korea's nuclear program and puts key reactors under international monitoring, said, "Now that the U.S. unilaterally gave up its last commitment under the framework, the DPRK acknowledges that it is high time to decide upon who is to blame for the collapse of the framework," UPI reports. The CIA estimate shared with Congress this week states the reactors at Taechon and Yongbyon would "generate about 275 kg per year, although it would take several years to complete construction of these reactors."	P-UPI
11/25/2002	Philippines	Representatives from the Philippines and the U.S. signed a mutual logistics support agreement giving equipment-basing rights to Washington, reports Gulf News. The accord allows the two countries to share communications equipment, non-lethal hardware, logistics, storage facilities, non-combat vehicles and services. The agreement bars combat equipment, such as artillery, fighters and nuclear armed vessels, from being stationed in the Philippines. The pact will also enhance large-scale bilateral exercises, said Philippines Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes.	P-GN
11/25/2002	North Korea	Pakistan has flatly denied a report in a U.S. newspaper that it helped North Korea with nuclear weapons technology, the BBC reports. "I do not know where the New York Times gets its information from. I am convinced that they need to update their intelligence-gathering system," said a Pakistani government spokesman.  The spokesman said "there is no truth whatsoever" to the story, which stated that Pakistan gave North Korea designs for gas centrifuges and other machinery that could be used to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. The New York Times said Pakistan has been sharing military technology with North Korea since 1993 and quoted U.S. officials charging that Islamabad has a "murky" relationship with Pyongyang.	P-BBC
11/25/2002	South Korea	South Korea and Spain will hold their first working-level military talks in Seoul later this month to discuss bilateral defense cooperation, reports the Korea Information Service. "At the meeting, the two sides will discuss the benefits of a military cooperation pact, which could serve as a foundation for greater military cooperation in the future," said a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman. The two sides will also discuss the security situation in North Asia and Europe.	P-KIS
11/25/2002	South Korea	Student protesters threw 15 Molotov cocktails at a small U.S. military storage facility in Seoul, South Korea, protesting the acquittal of two U.S. soldiers involved in an accident that killed two South Korean girls, Reuters reports. he two soldiers were found not guilty of negligent homicide in two courts-martial last week in an incident where two 13-year-old girls were run over while walking on a road near their village. ome 20 students gathered outside Camp Gray, using the firebombs to ignite a small fire near the gate that was quickly extinguished. he protesters want the two soldiers to be tried in a South Korean court despite the bilateral treaty that gives jurisdiction to the U.S. military in cases involving soldiers on duty.	P-R
11/25/2002	Taiwan	The Dept. of Defense notified Congress that it intends to sell four used Kidd-class guided missile destroyers to Taiwan, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced. Taiwan requested the purchase of the four destroyers as well as 248 SM-2 Block IIIA Standard missiles, 32 RGM-84L Block II Harpoon missiles and other support services at an estimated cost of $875 million. he DSCA reported that Taiwan already has the two types of missiles in its inventory but "needs these Kidd-class destroyers as well as the weapons and ammunition to continue its naval modernization program and enhance its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability."	P-US
11/26/2002	Sri Lanka	Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met with Tamil Tiger Chief Negotiator Anton Balasingham for the first time in Oslo on Sunday, reports the Norway Post. The meeting was the highest level contact between government and rebel representatives since a cease-fire was signed in February, reports Sky News. Norway's foreign minister Vidar Helgesen is chairing the peace talks.	P-NP, P-SN
12/04/2002	Indonesia	JAKARTA, Indonesia, Dec. 4 — Indonesian police have  arrested the alleged operations chief of an  al-Qaida-linked terror group that has been blamed for the Oct. 12 bombings on Bali, the nation’s police chief said Wednesday.OFFICIALS SAID THE arrest of Mukhlas, alias Ali Gufron, close to the central Javanese town of Solo late Tuesday was a major blow to Jemaah Islamiyah, which has also been implicated in a string of terror plots against Western targets in Southeast Asia. He was detained along with eight other people, including his wife, police chief Gen. Erwin Mappaseng told reporters.	MSNBC- AP
12/04/2002	East Timor	DILI, East Timor, Dec. 4 —  East Timor declared a state of emergency Wednesday after police fired on student protesters, killing at least two people and sparking a rampage of looting and arson.	MSBNC- AP
12/24/2002	Philippines	COTABATO, Philippines, Dec. 24 — A Christmas Eve  bomb attack on the home of the mayor of a southern Philippine town killed at least 13 people and wounded 12 others, the military said.  The military said Tuesday’s bombing appeared  to be the work of the Moro Islamic Liberation  rebels, but a spokesman for the Muslim separatist group denied involvement in the attack.	MSNBC- AP

Sources:
 

Legend  (P-xxx indicates "reported by Periscope and xxx indicatesthe original source)
Online
	AP	Associated Press Online Arhives
	BN	Bloomberg News
	CNN	Cable News Network
	FOX	Fox News Network online
	J	Janes News Brief (email)
	LAT	LA Times Online Archives
	MSNBC	MSNBC Online Archives
	P	Periscope  (email)
	Reuters	Reuters online
	SJMN	San Jose Mercury News Archives
	UPI	United Press International
	WP	Washington Post Archives
	WTC	World Tribune.com
Hardcopy/Broadcast
	AFP	Agence France-Presse
	AIW	Asia Intelligence Wire
	AUBC	Australian Broadcast Company
	BBC	British Broadcasting Company, U.K.
	CHNA	China News Agency
	DMUK	The Daily Mirror, U.K.
	DTUK	The Daily Telegraph, U.K.
	FTUK	Financial Times, U.K.
	GN	Gulf News
	KIS	Korean Information Service
	LTUK	London Times, U.K.
	MENL	Middle East Newsline
	NP	Norway Post
	PAUK	Press Association - U.K.
	PS	Philippine Star, Philippines
	SN	Sky News
	TGUK	The Guardain, U.K.
	TLUK	The Telegraph, London, U.K.
	TST	The Strait Times, Singapore
	TT	Tehran Times, Iran
	TTOI	The Times of India
	TTOL	The Times of London
	US	United States Government
	VOM	Voice of America

 
 
 
 
 

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