4th arrest in death of Kim Jong-un's half brother

Malaysian police said onSaturday they had arrested a North Korean man in connection withthe murder of the estranged half brother of North Korean leaderKim Jong-un, as a diplomatic spat over his body escalated.

Kim Jong-nam died this week after being assaulted at KualaLumpur International Airport with what was thought to be afast-acting poison. South Korean and U.S. officials have said hewas assassinated by North Korean agents.

Malaysian police said the latest arrest connected with themurder was made on Friday night, and the suspect was identifiedas Ri Jong Chol, born on May 6, 1970. He was in possession of aMalaysian i-Kad, which is an identification card given toforeign workers, they added.

"He is suspected to be involved in the death of a NorthKorean male," read a statement.

The police chief for Selangor state, Abdul Samah Mat, saidthe suspect had been remanded in police custody.

Two female suspects, one an Indonesian and the othercarrying Vietnamese travel documents, have already beenarrested, while a Malaysian man has been detained. At leastthree more suspects are at large, government sources have said.

Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the late North Korean leaderKim Jong-il, had spoken out publicly against his family'sdynastic control of isolated, nuclear-armed North Korea.

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South Korea's intelligence agency told legislatorsin Seoulthat Kim had been living with his second wife in the Chineseterritory of Macau, under China's protection.

He had been at the Kuala Lumpur airport to catch a flight toMacau when he was killed.

Malaysia performed a second autopsy on Kim Jong-nam because the first procedure was inconclusive, an official said Saturday.

Earlier,Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah dismissed mediareports that a second autopsy would have to be conducted.

A Malaysian official with knowledge of the investigation confirmed the second autopsy started Friday night and said that the results of the first one were inconclusive. He asked that his name not be used because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Diplomatic row

North Korea said in the early hours of Saturday that itwould categorically reject Malaysia's autopsy report on thedeath of Kim Jong-nam, and accused Malaysia of "colluding withoutside forces,"in a veiled reference to rival nation SouthKorea.

Malaysia hit back by saying the country's rules must befollowed. The foreign ministry has yet to make any comment.Health minister Dr S.Subramaniam told state news agencyBernama that Malaysia was waiting for the toxicology report tocomplete the autopsy.

He said the autopsy report would hopefully be released"within this week."

The case threatens to weaken North Korea's ties withMalaysia, one of the few countries that has maintained gooddiplomatic relations with Pyongyang.

Kim Jong-nam was assaulted at the low cost terminal of KualaLumpur International Airport on Monday with what is believed tobe fast-acting poison before he could board a flight to Macau.He sought help but died on the way to the hospital.

North Korea demanded on Friday night that Kim Jong-nam'sbody be released immediately. It had earlier tried to persuadeMalaysian authorities not to carry out an autopsy.

"The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without ourpermission and witnessing," the North Korean ambassador KangChol told reporters outside the hospital where the body of KimJong-nam is being kept.

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"We will categorically reject the result of the post mortem... "

He said Kim Jong-nam had a diplomatic passport and was underthe consular protection of North Korea.