Briefs, September 19, 2012

Ashraf vows to pursue Zardari corruption case

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf told the Supreme Court that the government would comply with a long-standing demand to reopen an old corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari, defusing a conflict that led to the ousting of the last prime minister. Zardari, who is in Switzerland, is likely in little immediate danger from the case. He is recognised as enjoying immunity from prosecution as a foreign head of state. The Pakistani government had refused for months to follow the court's order to write a letter to Swiss authorities asking them to reopen the case. AP

Manila to deport 400 involved in bank scam

MANILA - The Philippines said it would deport nearly 400 illegal immigrants from mainland China and Taiwan accused of running a multimillion-dollar online and phone scam. Members of the criminal gang allegedly made calls or sent e-mails posing as police officers or state prosecutors to dupe victims in China into believing their bank accounts were being used by terrorists. The scam targeted the elderly and involved persuading them to transfer their savings to a bank account controlled by the gang. AFP

Chinese kidnap victims rescued in Philippines

MANILA - Police say they have rescued two Chinese businessmen in the southern Philippines following a gunfight in which a suspected kidnapper was killed and an officer wounded. The two traders from Guangxi and a Filipino woman were snatched from a house in Agusan del Sur province. The woman was released the next day, but kidnappers demanded a ransom for Defeng Li and Liguang Yang. Police were tailing a person who was about to deliver the ransom when two assailants fired at the officers. One suspect escaped. AP