Malaysian police detain two more suspects for assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother
Malaysia agreed to hand over Kim Jong-nam’s body to North Korea.
The Malaysian police on Thursday detained two more suspects in connection with the assassination of North Korean authoritarian leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam, reported Reuters. This comes a day after a woman was arrested based on CCTV footage. “Police are looking for a few others, all foreigners,” Deputy Inspector-General Noor Rashid Ibrahim told the news agency.
The South Korean government confirmed that Kim Jong-nam was assassinated at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday. One of the accused holds Vietnamese travel documents. South Korea had said that its intelligence agency suspected the involvement of North Korea in the murder. The United States government officials also reiterated the belief. Seoul’s legislators had added the Kim Jon-un had issued a “standing order” to kill his half-brother.
Kim Jong-nam’s autopsy report revealed that he died after being poisoned. Senior Malaysian government officials told Reuters that Kim Jong-nam had told medical workers on his way to the hospital that he had been attacked with a chemical spray. Although North Korea had objected to the autopsy, Malaysia went ahead with the procedure because the former did not register a formal protest.
Malaysia has also agreed to hand over the body of Kim Jong-nam on North Korea’s request. “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,” Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told AFP.
Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of late dictator Kim Jong-il, had challenged his half brother’s succession to the top post. Officials said he had been trying to take over the isolated nation. He had been living abroad after a reported dispute with his father over his attempt to enter Japan with a fake passport.