Kim’s brother, dying from poisoning in an airport lounge

MALAYSIAN police arrested a North Korean man in connection with the airport murder of the estranged halfbrother of Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, amid a diplomatic spat over custody of his body.

Ri Jong Chol, a North Korean passport holder who was living in Malaysia on a work-permit, was arrested on Friday night in Selangor, near Kuala Lumpur.

Images published in a Malaysian newspaper appeared to show the last moments of Kim Jong-nam’s life before he died after apparently being poisoned.

The image in the New Straits Times showed him slumped in a chair in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, in what the paper said was one of the last images of him alive. Kim died after a chemical was apparently either sprayed or wiped on his face with a cloth as he waited to board a flight to Macau on Monday.

The murder has fuelled speculation that Kim was the victim of an assassination squad sent by his half-brother, who is known to have eliminated potential rivals in the past.

Three more men were still being sought yesterday in connection with the killing of the 45-year-old. A Malaysian security source said police had earlier detained a 25-year-old Malaysian man on Wednesday evening.

Two women – carrying Indonesian and Vietnamese passports – are also being questioned over their involvement in the case.

Malaysia yesterday rejected North Korean demands to hand over Kim’s body immediately, saying it would have to be conclusively identified by DNA before being released.

It came as China, North Korea’s only ally, said it would suspend imports of coal from the country until the end of 2017, in what was seen as a protest at the Kim regime’s latest missile test and the killing of the dictator’s brother, who was under the protection of Beijing. Coal is North Korea’s biggest export. Last week it was reported that China had turned back a shipment worth £806,000.