Malaysia Update

LONDON Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association on Friday over allegations that he spat at a member of Hull's coaching staff following an FA Cup match.

The 21-year-old Fabregas was not playing in his team's 2-1 win on March 17 but faces two charges, one for walking onto the field of play and the other for spitting at or toward assistant manager Brian Horton.

Hull manager Phil Brown was also charged for comments he made to the media after the match concerning referee Mike Riley.

Fabregas, who could be banned or fined, has denied he spat at anybody.

He was handed Arsenal's captaincy this season after William Gallas was stripped of the armband for comments made about teammates.

The pair have until May 12 to respond to the charges

Sergeant Abdullah Ibrahim with a marine police patrol boat used for operations in Sandakan.

He had been the scourge in the waters off the east coast of Sabah, the Philippines and Indonesia until he had a run-in with Sergeant Abdullah Ibrahim, writes FADHAL A. GHANI.

MOLOY Hijang was as ruthless as they come and this pirate had successfully evaded the marine police of Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia for more than a decade.

Ironically, it was small pickings on that day in Oct 7, 1996, that ended his reign of terror.

Fishermen Ibrahim Albani, 31, and Aripuddin Bachok, 38, were checking their fish traps at Pulau Tobanka, off Sandakan, about 8.30pm when Moloy, also known as Moloy Uwah, and three other pirates came in two speedboats.

The fishermen did not have any valuables on them but Moloy was not to be denied. The pirates unhitched the fishermen's outboard engine and made off with it.
A police report was lodged in Sandakan and the marine police informed of the pirates' last location.

The marine police patrol boat, with corporal Abdullah Ahmad in command and Abdullah Ibrahim, then a corporal, and four constables set out early the next morning.

It was not long before Moloy and his men were spotted in the waters off Segama at 7am.

The marine police boat came up close and Abdullah Ibrahim, using a megaphone, ordered the pirates to surrender.

However, the pirates opened fire. Luckily, none of the marine police officers were injured.

"The bullets whizzed past me. It was a close shave," said Abdullah Ibrahim who joined the force on Aug 15, 1981.

Meanwhile, the pirates headed towards the Philippines at full throttle with the marine police patrol boat giving chase.

"Before this, I had been involved in two sea battles with pirates and I put all this experience to use to apprehend Moloy and his men," said Abdullah Ibrahim.

"I was not only in charge of the patrol boat but I also doubled up as the engineer and I had to back up my men with a machine gun."

The four marine police officers were armed with M-16s.

The sea was rough, the waves were heavy and visibility was poor during the high-speed chase.

"We had to circle their boats to prevent them from escaping. In the one kilometre or so, we managed to circle them several times.

"Each time we circled them, a gun battle erupted and in the end, we shot dead Moloy and another pirate."

The other boat managed to escape into Philippines waters.

Marine police recovered an assortment of explosive devices, an M-16 rifle equipped with a grenade launcher, a Browning pistol, ski masks, binoculars and the outboard engine they had stolen.

For bringing down the fearful pirate, the Batu Pahat-born Abdullah Ibrahim was awarded the police Bravery Medal on May 1, 1998.

Abdullah Ibrahim, who has been with Sandakan marine police since Jan 1, 1983, is married with five children between the ages of 4 and 17.

Today, the 47-year-old Abdullah Ibrahim heads the Engineering Maintenance Department at the Sandakan base.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Umno su preme council has decided to leave the decision on whether to contest the Penanti by-election to its political bureau.

Party president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who heads the bureau, however, declined to say when it would decide on the matter.

“We know when we are meeting. Do I have to tell you?” he told reporters after chairing his first supreme council meeting since the party elections on March 26.

The Penanti by-election has to be held following the resignation of its assemblyman Mohd Fairus Khairud din on April 16.

Barisan leaders have expressed support for Najib’s previous statement that the coalition might not field a candidate as it would “a sheer waste” of funds.

Najib said an elected representative should not resign for frivolous reasons after a year of being elected.

“The principle is that we must adhere to our aku janji (pledge) to the voters who elected us.

“We cannot use our position to resign when we have stood for election with the pledge to serve the people for a term,” he said.

Najib also announced the setting-up of a special committee to handle proposed amendments to the party constitution for tabling at a special assembly in October.

The proposed amendments were aimed at making the party’s election process more open, transparent and democratic, he said.

During the meeting, Najib ex plained the reasons for the abolition of the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry and the liberalisation of the 27 services sub-sectors.

On the liberalisation of the sub-sectors, Najib said it was done after two years of thorough study by the International Trade and Industry Ministry then headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“We found that it was good and acceptable to all parties, including the bumiputras involved in the sub-sectors.

“It is also in line with changes undertaken by Asean member countries. We were the last one to open up the services sector,” he added.