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Malaysia to return body at Pyongyang’s request

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia will return the body of the half brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un at Pyongyang’s request, after going through the relevant procedures, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday.

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia will return the body of the half brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un at Pyongyang’s request, after going through the relevant procedures, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday.

“We will facilitate the request by any foreign government although there are procedures to be followed. Our policy is that we have to honour our bilateral relations with any foreign country,” he said.

He also confirmed the man killed at the budget terminal KLIA2 on Monday was Kim Jong-nam, the estranged elder sibling of Mr Kim Jong-un.

Malaysian police had earlier identified the deceased as Kim Chol, based on his travel documents.

“He carries two different identities, probably one is an undercover document and the other is an authentic passport,” said Mr Zahid.

Kim Jong-nam died after being attacked with what was believed to be a fast-acting poison. He had been at the airport to catch a flight to Macau when someone grabbed or held his face from behind, after which he felt dizzy and sought help at an information desk. He died on the way to hospital.

Lawmakers in South Korea had on Wednesday cited their spy agency as saying it suspected two female North Korean agents had murdered Kim Jong-nam.

American government sources also said they believed North Korean assassins were responsible.

North Korea has made no comment on the killing, but its diplomats objected to the autopsy carried out by Malaysian investigators, said a senior Malaysian police official.

When Pyongyang protested the post-mortem examination, “we told them to follow Malaysia’s laws”, the official involved with the case told AFP.

Kim Jong-nam’s body was still being held at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, with results of the autopsy yet to be released.

Selangor state police chief Commissioner Abdul Samah Mat said no request had been received and an official at the morgue said they had no indication of who would claim the body.

Mr Zahid said yesterday the body could be eventually released.

“After all the police and medical procedures are completed we may release the body to the next of kin through the embassy,” he said.

He also said the killing was an isolated case and reiterated assurances by the government that security at all its airports are at the “highest level”.

Additionally, Mr Zahid said Malaysia-North Korea ties are not affected because of the incident.

“We maintain and we would like to strengthen our relationship with any foreign country that has established their embassy here.”

The two countries opened embassies in each other’s capital cities in 2003, and Malaysians are currently allowed to travel to North Korea without a visa.

In 2011, direct flights by North Korea’s flagship carrier, Air Koryo, began operating between Pyongyang and Kuala Lumpur, though the route was later discontinued after sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council over North Korea’s nuclear programme. North Korea buys rubber, palm oil and other raw materials from Malaysia, which imports iron and steel products from the reclusive regime. AGENCIES

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