Thesun 2009-03-24 Page01 Norza Barred

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No. 4722 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

Tuesday March 24, 2009

TELLING IT AS IT IS

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Norza barred

Crashes kill 14 on skiing holiday, and two in cargo plane

FT UMNO YOUTH CHIEF CANNOT CONTEST AND ALSO STRIPPED OF RIGHT TO VOTE

AIR CRASH No.1

by Tim Leonard LOS ANGELES: A small plane crashed on Sunday in the northern state of Montana, killing all 14 people on board, many of them children, heading for a skiing holiday, federal aviation officials said. The plane, a single-engine turboprop, was heading from Oroville, California, just north of San Francisco on a 1,500km journey to Bozeman, Montana. However, at some point “they diverted into Butte (Montana) where it crashed ... 150m short of the runway” of a local airport, FAA spokesman Les Dorr told AFP. The crash occurred just south of Bert Mooney Airport, in Butte. He said the plane “crashed into Holy Cross cemetery, about 150m from the airport while attempting to land.”

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UALA LUMPUR: Ten days after he was charged with corruption in a Temerloh court, Federal Territory Umno Youth chief and Supreme Council member Datuk Norza Zakaria (pix) yesterday found himself barred from the party polls on Thursday. The powerful Umno management committee decided the 43-year-old politician cannot contest for a place in the Supreme Council, and also stripped him of

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his right to vote, effectively removing his power as a delegate, a terse statement on the Umno website www. umno-online.com read. Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor told reporters at Parliament House the decision by the management committee followed precedents in Negri Sembilan and Perlis. But, Bernama said, he declined to elaborate on those cases or Norza’s case. Norza had, on March 13, pleaded not guilty to two charges

in the Temerloh magistrate’s court of offering money to buy support for his re-election campaign. If found guilty, he can be jailed for a maximum of 20 years and fined not less than five times the amount of the bribe or more. He was released on a RM10,000 bail in one surety. The case will be mentioned on April 22. Umno disciplinary board member Datuk Seri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas, who was approached by reporters after a

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AIR CRASH No. 2

REUTERSPIX

TOKYO: A FedEx Corp cargo plane caught in a gust of wind crashed and burst into flames as it landed at Narita airport yesterday (pix), killing the two crew and closing the main runway at the busy gateway to Tokyo. Airlines cancelled more than 30 flights and diverted some to other airports as the longer of the two runways was closed. The MD-11 plane had been on a cargo flight from Guangzhou, China, FedEx said in a statement. The plane’s two American crew died in what was the first fatal crash at Narita airport since it opened in 1978. Japan Airlines Corp, Japan’s main international airline, said 27 flights had been cancelled.

board meeting yesterday, confirmed Norza’s fate, saying it was because of the fact the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had filed corruption charges against him. “He was charged by the MACC first,” he said. “It’s not the other way around.” Megat Najmuddin said there was a possible breach of the party’s code of ethics in the case, and it was best to wait for the court’s decision on Norza before the board decides further action on him. He said the board will continue to monitor money politics even as the Umno general assembly goes on. “If a contestant wins and we later find the candidate to have been involved in money politics, then we will surely take action,” he said. Megat Najmuddin said he hoped all the delegates and candidates behave in an acceptable manner during the party polls and refrain from involvement in money politics. Norza told Bernama he was informed of the Umno management committee’s decision via a letter signed by Tengku Adnan, which he received at noon. Expressing disappointment and sadness over the decision, he said: “As a professional and a party loyalist, the decision will not dampen my spirit to continue to struggle to enhance Umno’s competitiveness.” He said he accepted the decision as a challenge to strengthen