This was published 7 years ago
Kim Jong-nam murder: Suspect says she was paid $117 to apply deadly nerve agent
By Lindsay Murdoch
An Indonesian suspect in the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother says she was paid the equivalent of $117 to help apply a baby oil-like liquid to his face.
Siti Aisyah insisted to an Indonesian diplomat who met her in jail that she believed she was taking part in a prank.
Malaysian police have revealed that nerve agent, which is classified as a chemical weapon under international laws, was dabbed on the eyes of 46-year-old Kim Jong-nam. He sought medical help after the attack at Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13 but died shortly afterwards on the way to hospital.
Last week police rejected reports that 25-year-old Ms Siti and 28 year-old Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong believed they were taking part in the television show, Just for Laughs, and said they repeatedly trained for the act.
There is a growing rift between Malaysia and North Korea over the death of Kim Jong-nam.Credit: AP
But Andreano Erwin, the deputy chief of Indonesia's embassy in Kuala Lumpur, said Ms Siti told him during a 30-minute meeting that she did not know the liquid on her hands was the world's most potent nerve agent.
"She just said she was given some kind of oil, like baby oil," Mr Erwin told reporters.
"She didn't know about the poison – that is the answer from her."
According to Mr Erwin, Ms Siti said the men who asked her to carry out the act had names like 'James' and 'Chang'.
Investigations into the murder continue in the forensics department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.Credit: AP
She thought they were Japanese or Korean.
CCTV cameras captured one of the women who confronted Mr Kim walking hurriedly away, and slightly turning back to look at him. She had been wearing a distinctive white "LOL" shirt.
Media interest remains intense at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.Credit: AP
Malaysian police say Ms Siti was a spa masseuse from a small town in western Java, but they have not revealed how she came to meet the men.
Mr Erwin said she appeared in good health and did not seem to be suffering any ill effects from the lethal nerve agent.
The tasteless and odourless liquid is deadly if inhaled and it takes only 10 milligrams to be fatal through skin contact.
Police have said both Ms Siti and Ms Doan washed their hands in a toilet before catching a taxi from the airport, but that one later became unwell and vomited.
North Korea's ambassador in Malaysia has questioned the police investigation, asking how the two women could still be alive if a lethal substance had been used.
Senior police official Abdul Samah Mat, who is leading the investigation, declared the budget terminal at Kuala Lumpur's airport a "safe zone" after a two-hour sweep early on Sunday by more than a dozen officers in protective gear detected no hazardous material.
Malaysian Health Minister S. Subramaniam says there have been no reports of anyone else being sickened by the toxin since the attack.
Malaysia has asked Interpol to issue an alert notice for four men aged 33 to 57 who are believed to have travelled to Pyongyang after witnessing the attack.
Police say they also want to question a diplomat at North Korea's embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an official of North Korea's state-run airline.
A North Korean resident of Kuala Lumpur has also been arrested.
Mr Abdul Samah said a "reasonable time" will be given for the 44-year-old diplomat to come in for questioning.
"And if he fails to turn up given this notice, then we will go to the next step by getting a warrant of arrest from the court," he said.
The man has diplomatic immunity.
The use of the nerve agent has escalated a diplomatic row between Malaysia and North Korea, an isolated country under global sanctions.
South Korea has accused the North's Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB) spy agency of plotting the assassination.
North Korea, in turn, has accused Malaysia of "colluding with outside forces", a veiled reference to South Korea.
While living in exile for years Mr Kim criticised his family's dynastic rule and called for economic and other reforms in his homeland.
Malaysia last week recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang and, according to a senior Malaysian government official the country, is considering expelling North Korea's ambassador from Malaysia or shutting its embassy in Pyongyang.
A Vietnamese diplomat also met Ms Doan in jail, but he made not comment to reporters afterwards.
Both women have been remanded in custody.
Mr Kim was attacked while about to catch a flight to Macau where he was living under Chinese protection with his second wife and a son.
with agencies