Briefly (Asia)

MYANMAR

U.N. council seeks Suu Kyi’s release

UNITED NATIONS | The U.N. Security Council agreed after two days of talks to issue a statement Thursday calling on Myanmar’s military government to immediately release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners.

The council’s 15 member nations voiced “serious concern at the conviction and sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and its political impact” and reaffirmed three previous statements since 2007. “Daw” is a term of respect for older women.

They also urged the ruling junta to begin a genuine dialogue with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and other political parties and ethnic groups. A Myanmar court Tuesday convicted Mrs. Suu Kyi of violating the terms of her previous house arrest by sheltering an uninvited American visitor.

The U.N. estimates there are 2,100 political prisoners in Myanmar.

PHILIPPINES

Troops attack militants’ camps

MANILA | Philippine troops overran two jungle camps of al Qaeda-linked militants in their deadliest clash in years, with 23 soldiers and 31 guerrillas killed in what a top commander described Thursday as a “slugfest.”

More than 400 marines, army and police commandos stormed the hilltop camps on southern Basilan Island on Wednesday in raids targeting about 150 Abu Sayyaf militants led by two terrorism suspects wanted for a series of bomb attacks and kidnappings, said navy chief Vice Adm. Ferdinand Golez.

Heavy fighting ensued when a unit of marine reinforcements met up with a large group of fleeing militants, leaving them outnumbered with 18 marines killed, Adm. Golez said.

INDIA

Swine flu shuts Mumbai institutions

MUMBAI | Thousands of schools, colleges and cinemas shut down in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, on Thursday to combat the spread of swine flu as the government struggled to contain public anxiety.

Blanket media coverage and the growing number of victims caused panic in some affected areas, with the virus already disrupting the Bollywood film industry, local businesses and planning for upcoming religious festivals.

Indian Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad called for calm as more people took to wearing surgical masks on the streets and flocked to medical centers for testing.

So far, 20 people have died of swine flu in India, according to a tally by the Press Trust of India news agency.

THAILAND

Prosecutors push to extradite Russian

BANGKOK | Thai prosecutors announced Thursday they plan to challenge a lower-court ruling that rejected a U.S. request to extradite suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

That means Mr. Bout, 42, dubbed the “Merchant of Death” for purportedly shipping arms that have fueled conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, will spend several more months in a Thai jail pending the appeal.

Mr. Bout was arrested in March 2008 at a luxury hotel in Bangkok as part of an elaborate sting in which U.S. agents posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization.

PAKISTAN

Poll finds Taliban, U.S. unpopular

ISLAMABAD | Pakistanis’ views on the Taliban have shifted dramatically in the past year, with 70 percent now opposing the militants, a poll released Thursday said. The United States doesn’t fare well either, with 64 percent of Pakistanis seeing Washington as an enemy.

Pew Global Attitudes conducted the poll in late May and early June, mostly in urban areas.

The poll found only 10 percent approved of the Taliban. Some 70 percent disapproved. Support for al Qaeda was at 9 percent.

However, the U.S. was only slightly more popular than the Taliban. Nearly two-thirds, 64 percent, viewed the U.S. as an enemy, while only 9 percent described it as a partner.