Embassy Seeks To Meet Woman Held With Indonesian Passport

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- The Indonesian Embassy here has sought the permission of the Foreign Ministry to meet the woman bearing an Indonesian passport who was arrested over the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Minister-Counsellor at the Information, Social and Cultural Division of the embassy, Trigustono Supriyanto, said the meeting was to verify the identity of the woman and the authenticity of her passport. "I received a WhatsApp message from a friend on the arrest of a woman bearing the passport of our country. There was no official information from the Malaysian authorities. "Soon after getting the message, we contacted the Malaysian Foreign Ministry and are awaiting a response from them," he said to Bernama at his office. He said that until embassy officials met the woman, the embassy would be unable to verify her identity. Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, in a statement, said a woman by the name of Siti Aishah and born Serang, Indonesia, on 11 February 1992 was arrested early Thursday. She had an Indonesian passport. Siti Aishah is the second woman to have been arrested over the killing. Another woman, identified as Doan Thi Huong, 29, and who had a Vietnamese passport, was arrested at klia2 at 8.20am Wednesday. Last Monday, Jong-nam was reportedly at klia2 at about 8am to board a flight to Macau an hour later when a woman covered his face with a cloth laced with poison. He died en route to the hospital in Putrajaya. Jong-nam, who had used the name Kim Chol, is believed to have arrived in Malaysia from Macau on Feb 6. -- BERNAMA