9 Malaysians Finally Home As Jong-Nam Drama Ends After 46 Days

By Sharifah Hunaini Syed Ismail KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 (Bernama) -- After 46 days in the puzzle, a crisis which began with the assassination of the estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader last month in Malaysia, eventually leading to a diplomatic row between the two countries, has finally come to end on Friday. It all began on Feb 13 when two foreign women daubed the face of Kim Jong-nam - the estranged sibling of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un - with nerve agent VX at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) while waiting for a flight to Macau. Subsequently, Jong-nam was pronounced dead while on the way to the Putrajaya Hospital. On March 1, two women, Siti Aisyah, 25, an Indonesian, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29, were charged in the Sepang Magistrate's Court in relation to the killing. Following the murder, then-North Korean ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol made various accusations against the Malaysian Government's efforts to solve the case, in contrast to Kuala Lumpur's stance to handle the case in a professional manner and in accordance with international standards. The Malaysian Government then declared Kang Chol persona non grata and he left the country on March 6. On the same day, Pyongyang retaliated by taking similar action against the Malaysian ambassador to North Korea. The following day, Pyongyang prevented 11 Malaysians from leaving that country. Kuala Lumpur had also taken similar action against the North Koreans here. However, two Malaysians, attached to the United Nations's World Food Program (WFP), who had undergone WFP courses in Pyongyang were allowed to leave that country on March 9, and went straight to Beijing. About 8.30 on Thursday night, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that nine Malaysians in North Korea were allowed to leave the country. A few days earlier, the authorities were keeping mum, saying that negotiations between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang were ongoing to resolve the issue. On Friday, media practitioners who camped in front of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (NIFM) here since Feb 15, noticed unusual movement with a van believed to be ferrying Jong-nam's body, leaving the institute at 1.40pm. The grey hearse, believed to be carrying the remains of Jong-Nam arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 2.47pm on Thursday, and the plane carrying the body reportedly had departed from KLIA to Beijing at 7.30pm. Nine Malaysians who were allowed to leave North Korea departed Pyongyang at 7.45pm (Malaysian time) and arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 5am on Friday. --BERNAMA