The estranged
half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been murdered in Malaysia,
a South Korean government source said on Tuesday.
Kim Jong Nam,
the older half brother of the North Korean leader, was known to spend a
significant amount of his time outside the country and had spoken out publicly
against his family's dynastic control of the isolated state.
In a
statement, Malaysian police said the dead man, aged 46, held a passport under
the name Kim Chol.
Kim Jong Nam
has been caught in the past using forged travel documents.
Police
official Fadzil Ahmat said the cause of Kim's death was not yet known, and a
post mortem would be carried out on the body.
"So far
there are no suspects, but we have started investigations and are looking at a
few possibilities to get leads," Fadzil told Reuters.
According to
Fadzil, Kim had been planning to travel to Macau on Monday when he fell ill at
the low-cost terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
"The deceased
... felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind," Fadzil said.
"He felt dizzy, so he asked for help at the ... counter of KLIA."
Kim was taken
to an airport clinic where he still felt unwell, and it was decided to take him
to hospital. He died in the ambulance on the way to Putrajaya Hospital, Fadzil
added.
South Korea's
TV Chosun, a cable-TV network, reported that Kim had been poisoned with a
needle by two women believed to be North Korean operatives who fled in a taxi
and were at large, citing multiple South Korean government sources.
According to Reuters the details could not be confirmed.
* REUTERS*
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