DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Suspects of Mekong River attack want to clear their names: Thai Army Chief” plus 9 more

BANGKOK, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Nine suspected army men deny killing Chinese sailors and want to be exonerated from the charges, Thai Army Chief Prayuth Chanocha said on Thursday, calling for " justice" for his subordinates as the investigation is still underway.

Prayuth said that as the army men were doubted so he ordered the Third Army Region to bring those them to report to the police so that they could have the chance to show their sincerity but it should not be misinterpreted as surrender.

"I would like to ask support for soldiers. They should have an opportunity to clarify themselves," he said.

"Ninety percent of my subordinates are good guys. Please don't prejudge them for committing crimes. It's not that easy to kill people even if their supervisors ask them to do so," said Prayuth.

Chalerm Ubumrung, Thai deputy Prime Minister in charge of security, said on Tuesday that investigators have gathered sufficient evidence in connection with the slaughter of Chinese sailors and truth will be clear within this week.

Two cargo ships, Huaping and Yu Xing 8, were attacked on Oct. 5 on Mekong River near the golden triangle area and 13 Chinese sailors were killed.

Nine army men, reportedly including one major and one lieutenant, from the Third Army Region guarding Thailand's northern border were identified as suspects last Friday by Thai police chief Priewpan Damapong.

But The group have denied two charges, murder and tampering of evidence, pressed by the police.

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing emergency humanitarian assistance of 3 million U.S. dollars to work with the Cambodian government to help meet some of its most critical needs in the wake of the country's worst flooding in over a decade, according to the bank's press release on Thursday.

"The severe flooding has had a dramatic impact on the livelihoods of the Cambodian population, especially poor farmers in  remote areas," said Peter Brimble, ADB senior country economist in Cambodia.

"Many communities are in urgent need of assistance to reconnect with supply centers and to rebuild their lives."

The grant from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund will be used to supply rice seed to rural households whose crops have  been lost, along with food and cash-for-work schemes that will allow affected communities to repair flood-damaged roads, it said.

Support will also be given for temporary repairs to irrigation canals.

Cambodia has suffered the worst flooding in the last decade since August and 18 cities and provinces have been submerged.

More than 250 people have died and over 1.5 million have been affected by the flooding along the Mekong and other key rivers  over the past two months, which has destroyed or damaged more than 10 percent of the country's rice crop.

Rural roads and irrigation systems have also been badly hit, and the final cost of the devastation is expected to be in the  hundreds of millions of dollars.

ADB's emergency support will allow rural communities to quickly replant rice while the cash for work program will help  restore road access to essential services and provide badly-needed jobs.

ADB has also been discussing possible activities to develop data systems and early warning and response mechanisms that  would help Cambodia become more resilient to floods, which are expected to worsen in future as a result of climate change, said  the press release.

ANKARA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Two Turkish pilots were killed when a military jet crashed in Turkey's central province of Konya on Thursday, local newspaper Today's Zaman reported on its website.

The F-4 fighter jet, which took off from the Konya 3rd Main Jet Base Commandership, reportedly crashed near the Karakaya village in the Karatay district, the report said, adding that rescue teams were dispatched to the crash site.

The authorities have launched investigation into the crash, the report said.

BRUSSELS, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Thursday urged Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) to secure massive stockpiles of weapons and stop the smuggling of munitions out of the country.

"It (NTC) must play a responsible role in the region. That includes preventing the spread of arms through North Africa. As (the United Nations) Security Council stressed, the National Transitional Council must do whatever it takes to bring the situation under control. And neighboring states must take action too," Rasmussen said at his monthly press conference.

The NATO chief said though the military alliance has terminated its operations in Libya on Oct. 31, the arms embargo on Libya is still in place.

"According to the United Nations Security Council resolutions the arms embargo is still in place. And it is the responsibility of individual nations now to enforce the arms embargo, including Libya's neighbors," he said.

Rasmussen said the NTC can ask the international community or individual countries for support in dealing with the problem.

"NATO is also ready for help with the reform of the defense and security sectors if so requested...But we have not received a formal request yet," he said.

ANKARA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Two Turkish soldiers were killed when a military jet crashed in the province of Konya in central Turkey on Thursday, local newspaper Today's Zaman reported on its website.

YANGON, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- A business meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan was held at the Sedona Hotel here Thursday aimed at boosting economic relation between ASEAN and Japan.

Jointly opened by Dr. Khin Shwe, chairman of the 37th ASEAN- Japan Business Meeting, and Yasuchika Hasegawa, Chairman of Keizai Doyukai, the event was attended by top business community of Japan and some ASEAN member countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.

Thura Thaung Lwin, Myanmar Deputy Minister for Rail Transportation, read out the  message sent from President U Thein Sein, saying that this year's ASEAN-Japan forum is a platform for continuing friendship and cooperation between these two great entities.

The message stressed the need for more commitment as the frequency and the nature of the global crisis are changing and becoming more and more challenging in the integrated globalized area.

"The cooperation and synergies within ASEAN and the ties with our counterpart Japan are rather crucial to strengthen our economies especially under current circumstances such as the debt crisis in United States and Euro zone crisis, "the message said.

For Myanmar, the message said that it is a renewed co-operation and the commitment to extend its participation in ASEAN as well as to strengthening the political economic and social co-operation with Japan.

The message reaffirmed Myanmar democratic efforts and economic reform, saying that economic reform will target from transparency, foreign direct investment and high growth opportunity for international and domestic stakeholders.

At the meeting, Japanese ambassador Takasho Saito also read out the message from Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda which voiced support for the continuous growth and development of Asia, stressing the importance of strengthening the economic partnership.

The message also pledged support for ASEAN efforts to create an ASEAN Community by 2015.

The meeting discussed security and risk management as a basis for sustainable growth, future energy architecture and cooperation in Asia as well as human resources development, exchange and management.

JAKARTA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian Vice President Boediono launched on Thursday, the national cleanliness movement targeting six public service facilities for the public that would eventually change public's mind so as to improve public's participation in addressing social issues.

Speaking in his remarks in addressing the launch of the national movement entitled "Clean Indonesia", the vice president emphasized the regional government to support the implementation of the program.

The cleanliness movement would target six public facilities consisting transportation facilities in the airport, seaport and bus stations, cleaning of rivers that lining in major cities.

The cleanliness in schools was also a target included in the national movement as it is hoped to shape the students'good behavior.

"The clean school would incite multiplier effect to the students. It would shape up their good mentality until they grown up," Boediono said in his office here.

Cleanliness in public health facilities was also part of the target. He said that the health minister has been told to pay more attention in improving the cleanliness in those facilities.

"The ministry has to set up particular cleanliness standards on health facilities under its coordination," the vice president said.

Adding to more target in the national movement program, the vice president said that each major city across the country must have a reliable and sustainable waste management system.

He said that government would assess the sustainable waste management system that has already applied in several cities and to implement it in other cities that have not run such a system.

Boediono said that the last target was that all of those cleanliness programs implemented in various sectors would change the public's minds in addressing the education issue in their families, improving the public's participation in government's policies, legal enforcement and public education efforts.

JAKARTA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Floods in West Sumatra, Indonesia have left one person dead and 3 missing and forced more than 5,000 people to leave their homes, an official said on Thursday.

Heavy rains since Wednesday had caused rivers to overflow and submerged more than one thousand houses in Pesisir Selatan district, Ade Edward, senior official of the West Sumatra disaster management and mitigation agency told Xinhua over phone.   "Rescuers has found one dead body and kept searching for 3 others," he said.

The official said that most of the evacuees took shelters at the higher ground.

The floods also damaged a road connecting West Sumatra and Bengkulu, he said.

Floods and landslide have been frequent in Indonesia during the wet season.

NEW DELHI, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- India has welcomed Pakistan's decision to give most favored nation status (MFN) to India, saying it would stimulate trade and political ties between the two neighbors, according to local media reports Thursday.

Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma said Wednesday that India "deeply appreciates this positive gesture that Pakistan has taken" in granting MFN status to India.

"When bilateral economic engagement improves, it brings prosperity and growth to both the partners," he said, adding "it opens new pathways of alleviating our economic engagement to a much higher level."

Sharma also said the move would "influence definitely in positive manner" the political relations between the two countries.

India-Pakistan commercial negotiations were revived in April this year after a gap of four years. Bilateral trade volume was 2. 6 billion U.S. dollars in the 2010-11 fiscal year.

BANGKOK, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Two soldiers were injured on Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded in a restive southernmost province of Thailand, Thai media reported.

Five soldiers of a military unit of Narathiwat province special force were  patrolling on Si Sakhon-Ban Peeloh road on a pickup when the bomb was detonated by mobile phone, said Pol Col Wutthipong Yenchit, chief of Si Sakhon police station, Bangkok Post online reported.

The explosion occurred at 10:30 a.m. local time, The Nation reported.

Sgt Anchoen Imnaualkamol and Pvt Wasant Kulrak both suffered broken legs and were taken to Si Sakhon hospital.

They were later transferred to Narathiwat Ratchanakarin hospital in the city of Narathiwat.

Police blamed separatist militants.

On Wednesday, six police have been killed in a bombing attack also in Narathiwat.

Since the resurgence of insurgency in 2004, around 11,000 violent incidents instigated by secessionists in the Muslim- dominant southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat happened, with almost 5,000 people killed and nearly 8,000 injured.