MALAYSIA SENDS BODY OF KIM TO N KOREA, ENDING BIZARRE SPAT

KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia put the body of the estranged halfbrother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on a plane to Pyongyang on Thursday, in a deal that secured the release of its citizens there and ended a drawn out diplomatic spat.

US and South Korean intelligence sources say North Korea masterminded the deadly attack on Kim Jong Nam last month using VX nerve agent, a chemical so toxic that it is on a UN list of weapons of mass destruction. The attack outraged Malaysia and sparked a diplomatic row with North Korea, resulting in travel bans on both sides and a collapse in their long-standing friendly ties.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the nine Malaysians barred from leaving North Korea had been allowed to board a plane out. The Malaysians left Pyongyang in a Royal Malaysian Air Force business jet, which headed immediately west out of North Korean airspace before turning south towards Malaysia, according to flight tracking website planefinder.net.

“Following the completion of the autopsy on the deceased and receipt of a letter from his family requesting the remains be returned to North Korea, the coroner has approved the release of the body,” Najib said in a statement. The statement did not mention Kim by name. Kim was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13.

Sources told Reuters that authorities were preparing to transport Kim’s body on Malaysia Airlines flight MH360 to Beijing. That flight lands in Beijing after midnight. The swap agreement brings to an end nearly seven weeks of diplomatic standoff between the formerly friendly countries. REUTERS