Jong Nam murder: Nine Malaysians arrive safely at KLIA
Astro Awani
Mac 30, 2017 21:43 MYT
Mac 30, 2017 21:43 MYT
Anifah Aman greets Noor Saadiah Jamaluddin and husband, Mohd Radzuan Othman after they arrived at the Bunga Raya Complex, KLIA early Friday. - Photo courtesy of Wisma Putra
The nine Malaysians, previously barred from leaving North Korea in the aftermath of the murder of Kim Jong Nam here last month, have safely arrived on a special aircraft (M48-02) from Pyongyang at approximately 5.03am today.
Their arrival at the Bunga Raya Complex of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was welcomed by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, government officials and family members.
Amidst tears of joy, Defense Advisor of Malaysian Consulate in North Korea, Mohd Nor Azrin Md Zain, 37, and wife, Iza Karmila Ramli, 35, along with their children, Annur Zulaikha, 6, Aynur Zhafirah, 5, and Ayscha Zinnirah, 3, looked joyous to be home.
The other Malaysian included Administrative Officer S. Nirmala Malar Kodi, 45, Ambassador's secretary Noor Saaidah Jamaludin, 29, and husband, Mohd Radzuan Othman, 29, as well as their eight-month-old son Mohamad Radhiy.
Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that the Malaysians prohibited from leaving North Korea since March 7 have been allowed to return home.
They departed Pyongyang at 7.45pm Friday (Malaysian time).
Najib, in a posting on Twitter said: "Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) the Special Aircraft carrying the nine Malaysians has flown out of North Korean airspace. The diplomatic crisis is over."
Following the development, the prime minister said Malaysia had now allowed North Korean citizens in the country to leave.
Tensions between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang arose following the murder of the 46-year old half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) on Feb 13.
Two women daubed Jong Nam's face with the VX nerve agent at klia2 while he was waiting for a flight to Macau.
Subsequently, he was pronounced dead 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.
The diplomatic tiff came about after North Korea's Ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol made wild allegations against Malaysia on how it handled the case, resulting in Malaysia declaring him persona non grata.
He left Kuala Lumpur on March 6.
Pyongyang retaliated by expelling Malaysia's Ambassador to North Korea.
On March 7, Pyongyang barred Malaysians in North Korea from leaving that country and Kuala Lumpur took the same action in a tit-for-tat move.