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Leading politicians in Denmark, on Monday, reacted with anger over remarks by an Imam who argued that adulterers should be stoned, citing sharia law.

The Imam, Abu Ismail said that a virgin who committed adultery should be whipped.

He added that those who abandoned their religion should be executed, according to clips released by Danish broadcaster TV2.

The remarks were made at a lecture on religious laws to a group of women at a mosque in the western city of Aarhus, which was secretly recorded by TV2 for an upcoming documentary.

Aarhus police said it is investigating if charges could be brought over the remarks.

"It's awful that there are people in Denmark who preach such things, it doesn't belong here," said Inger Stojberg, Minister for Immigration and Integration.

Stojberg said she would like to close the Grimhoj mosque where Ismail is active, but said it may remain open in order to keep track of similar extremists.

The head of the Grimhoj mosque, Oussama El-Saadi, said that the mosque followed Danish laws, and the imam's answers concerned what he knew about sharia and were in response to questions from TV2's spy.

The remarks prompted angry comments from members of the right-wing populist Danish People's Party, Conservatives and the Social Democrats.

Ismail has already been involved in several controversies, and was fined by a German court after he called for the killing of "Zionist Jews" during a 2014 visit to a Berlin mosque.

Trine Bramsen, legal affairs spokeswoman of the Social Democrats, said Stojberg and Justice Minister Soren Pind would be invited to the parliament's Legal Affairs Committee to discuss measures to act against extremist views.

"We want answers from the government.

"The mosque can be shut, but if the imam moves to another mosque that really doesn't help,’’ she said.

The mosque is part of a programme launched some years ago in Aarhus, aimed at dissuading youths from joining radical groups.

Imam triggers controversy over support for stoning adulterers

"It's awful that there are people in Denmark who preach such things, it doesn't belong here," said Inger Stojberg, Minister for Immigration and Integration.

As part of efforts to combat the Lassa Fever in Edo, the State Ministry of Health on Monday embarked on a sensitisation campaign in communities affected by the epidemic.

The sensitisation campaign with its theme: "Kick out Lassa fever in Edo’’ was organised by the ministry, National Planning, Healthcare Development Agency and Edo State Disease Control and Management.

The Director, Edo State Disease Control and Management, Dr Osamwonyi Irowa, said the sensitisation/enlightenment campaign was meant to create awareness on the deadly disease in the state.

Irowa said Etsako West had been the worst hit area by the Lassa fever virus, adding that this informed the decision of the ministry to centre its campaign around the area.

"We are here in Etsako West to intensify our campaign against Lassa fever because Etsako West Local Government has high record of the cases in Edo.

"The sensitisation campaign becomes imperative so as to educate the people on the danger of Lassa fever and to get the prevention message to them at the grassroots,’’ he said.

He advised communities to improve on their hygiene level and protect their foods from the excreta and urine of rodents, particularly the 'Natal Multimammate' mouse.

The director said the `Natal Multimammate’ specie of mouse was found to be the natural host of the Lassa fever virus.

He cautioned people against bush burning and spreading `Garri’ outside, adding that this was common with the people living in the rural areas.

"We advise people living in this community to report any case of the above symptoms or persistent high fever not responding to standard treatment for malaria and typhoid fever.

"The report should be made to the ministry of health and the nearest health centre closer to them,’’ he said.

Ministry embarks on sensitisation programme

We are here in Etsako West to intensify our campaign against Lassa fever because Etsako West Local Government has high record of the cases in Edo.

Olympics organizing committee, said on Monday in Rio de Janeiro, that it would charge national delegations to have mosquito screens on athletes' rooms.

It said that this measure has become imperative because athletes are increasingly concerned about the outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil.

"The screens’’, is one measure Brazilians are using to help ward off the mosquito that is the primary transmitter of Zika,

He, however said that even though the committee has not placed a price on the screen, yet low-end screens attached to windows with Velcro can cost as little as 15 dollars while more rigid and durable screens can cost over 100 dollars, market price.

Wilkinson said a growing number of international athletes in recent weeks have expressed deep concern about Zika, a virus that has been linked in Brazil to more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly.

He said the link has led the World Health Organisation to declare the Zika outbreak a global emergency.

Wilkinson said WHO, director has warned during his Brazil that the virus should not affect international travel nor prevent a successful Olympics in Brazil.

"But it has said that effective control of mosquitoes is the most important means of stopping transmission.

Wilkinson said Olympic organizers in Rio are following WHO recommendations.

He said the game venues and major tourist attractions would be inspected daily during the games, which start Aug. 5 and end Aug. 21, to ensure there are no puddles or other possible breeding grounds for the insects.

Wilkinson said organisers would make mosquito repellent available in lodging areas and that all athletes' rooms would be air conditioned.

"Still, some delegations are taking extra steps to protect their athletes.

It said the infections known as Aedes aegypti, can be as bad in August of some years as they are during what would normally be peak months for infections in others.

It noted that so far this year, possibly because of warmer-than-usual weather, local infections of dengue, a virus related to Zika, are far worse than in 2015.

City officials said doctors have reported more than 6,000 cases of Zika in Rio since January.

Brazil's national government said as many as 1.5 million people may have been infected across the country.

Meanwhile, Australia's Olympic team said it had signed a sponsorship deal with a repellent maker to supply its athletes with the deterrent.

Marcus Freire, Executive Director Brazilian Olympic Committee, said its committee has already decided to pay for the screens in the lodging for its more than 400 athletes.

He said it has also required that Nike Inc , its official supplier, for more long-sleeve apparel to help athletes protect themselves.

Brazilian and Olympic officials have sought to dispel concerns about Zika in August by saying that the month mid-winter in the southern hemisphere - is typically a time when there are fewer mosquitoes in Rio.

But an undisclosed source revealed that recent review of municipal health data showed that other infections spread by the same mosquito.

Rio Olympics to charge teams for mosquito screens to prevent Zika

Philip Wilkinson, Spokesman for the Rio 2016 organizing committee, said the screens, would be installed in communal areas "where required" but only affixed to lodging if national delegations decide to pay for it.

Rio Olympics to charge teams for mosquito screens to prevent virus

Enyimba of Aba Coach, Paul Aigbogun, says Samson Siasia's appointment as Super Eagles coach is a correct move aimed at salvaging the national team.

Aigbogun told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Monday that Siasia was qualified to handle the team, especially in an emergency situation.

"I think it’s a good appointment, considering the time to the game; it makes no sense to bring somebody who does not know the terrain.

"It will be a waste of time to bring somebody new,” he said.

Aigbogun, whose team, Enyimba, beat Vipers of Uganda, 2-0 to qualify for the second round of CAF Champions league, said Siasia had worked with Salisu Yusuf in the past.

He said Siasia's success would depend on his ability to pick the right players to prosecute the double header against Egypt. The coach expressed optimism that Siasia would succeed because he had respect of the players and they were determined to give him good results.

Enyimba's Coach supports Siasia's appointment

I think it’s a good appointment, considering the time to the game; it makes no sense to bring somebody who does not know the terrain.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned former Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, in a Federal High Court, Abuja, on 11 count charges of procurement fraud and Money Laundering.

The others on Monday were Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia, former Permanent Secretary; F.O Alayebami, a serving Deputy Director in the ministry; Mahmood Ahmadu, who is at large and Drexel Global Tech Ltd.

The defendants were arraigned for defrauding 676,675 Nigerian applicants of about N676 million in the botched March 15, 2014 immigration recruitment exercise.

The charge stated that each of the applicants was charged N1000 for online registration to be eligible to participate in the recruitment exercise.

The anti-graft body said the defendants flouted the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 in the award of the contract for the conduct of the recruitment test to Drexel Global Tech Ltd.

The EFCC said that the first to the third defendants failed to throw the bidding process of the contract open to competition before it was awarded to Drexel.

The charge said the contract was awarded through selective tendering without seeking the approval of the Bureau for Public Procurement.

The prosecution said the action was contrary to Sections 40, 42 and 43 of the Public Procurement Act and punishable under Section 58 of the same Act.

The charge also alleged that Drexel Global Ltd had no legal backing to have been given the contract as it was not a registered entity with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).The charge further stated that it was unlawful for the defendants to approve the registration fees for the exercise without the due approval from the Nigerian Immigration Board.

The prosecution, therefore, said such approval was contrary to Section 22 (5) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act of 2000.

They pleaded not guilty to the 11-count charge.

Chikere adjourned the matter till March 2 for the hearing of bail applications of others.

Immigration job scam: EFCC slams 11 count charges on Abba Moro, 3 others

The presiding judge, Justice Anwuli Chikere, therefore, ordered for the remand of the ex-minister and Alayebami in Kuje Prison while Daniel-Nwobia was allowed to enjoy her administrative bail.

Agency slams 11 count charges on Abba Moro, 3 others

The Consul-General of the Republic of Cameroon in Lagos, Dr Paul Ekorong a’Dong, on Monday said that his government had no intention to repatriate Nigerian refugees currently in various camps in Cameroon.

Ekorong a Dong told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that it would be unfair for the Cameroonian government to repatriate those Nigerians that had fled to Cameroon for safety.

The Consul-General said that his government would continue to respect the existing strong regional cooperation between Nigeria and Cameroon, and would, therefore, not treat the Nigerians badly.

"Let me say without hesitation that the rumour that the Cameroonian government plans to repatriate Nigerian refugees is completely wrong.

"What my government and the Nigerian government are jointly working on is to find a lasting solution to how best to bring them back and get them re-integrated into their communities.

"So, we do not see this as any kind of repatriation. Repatriation has to do with the deportation of people.

"But this is not the case because our two governments are already discussing on the most appropriate process for them to return to their communities,’’ he said.

Ekorong a’Dong said that the Nigerian Minister of Interior had recently visited Cameroon and had fruitful discussions with his Cameroonian counterpart and the Prime Minister on the issue of the refugees.

The Envoy, who said that some of the refugees had started returning on their own to their communities in Nigeria, added that his government had not requested the refugees to leave.

"The Nigerian and Cameroonian governments are still working on the appropriate measures and solutions for bringing back those who are eager to return to their communities.

"We are looking at a situation where those who still want to stay in Cameroon can stay, and those who want to return to their communities are able do so at their will. We are not forcing any of them to leave,’’ he said.

Ekorong a’Dong added that his government would continue to cater for the 6,000 Nigerian refugees currently in its established camps, until both countries are able to conclude their plans.

No repatriation of Nigerian Refugees from Cameroon – Envoy

The Nigerian and Cameroonian governments are still working on the appropriate measures and solutions for bringing back those who are eager to return to their communities.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that a fragile truce in Syria appeared to be largely holding but the alliance was concerned by a Russian military build-up in Syria.

France, though, said it had information about fresh attacks on zones held by moderate rebels, and called for an immediate meeting of the Syria task force to address breaches of the cessation of hostilities that came into force on Friday.

The cessation of hostilities deal is the first of its kind to be attempted in four years. Syria's conflict began in 2011.

Stoltenberg told a news conference in the Gulf Arab state of Kuwait: "We have seen some encouraging developments that the ceasefire is largely holding but at the same time we have seen some reports about violations of the ceasefire.

"This agreement and the full implementation of the agreement is the best possible basis for renewing the efforts to find a political negotiated peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria," he added.

The deal, which is less binding than a formal ceasefire and was not directly signed by Syria's warring government and rebel forces, does not cover action against militants from Islamic State or the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his big power ally, Russia, say they will continue to fight militant forces. Other rebels say they fear this stance may be used to justify attacks against them too.

NATO chief says concerned about Russian military build-up in Syria

"We are concerned," Stoltenberg said, "about the significant Russian military build-up we have seen in Syria with the ground troops, with the naval forces in eastern Mediterranean and with air forces conducting air strikes."

Macedonian police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of migrants and refugees who stormed the border from Greece on Monday, tearing down a gate as frustrations boiled over at restrictions imposed on people moving through the Balkans.

A Reuters witness said Macedonian police fired several rounds of tear gas into crowds who tore down the metal gate and onto a railway line where migrants sat refusing to move, demanding to cross into the country.

There were an estimated 8,000 people gathered at Idomeni, the small frontier community on Greece's border with Macedonia. Most were Syrians and Iraqis.

Crowds who gathered at the razor wire fence proceeded to use a heavy metal pole to bring down a gate by digging beneath the barrier and using force to push it up and out. At least two people collapsed in the crush and ensuing use of tear gas, Reuters television images showed.

At least 22,000 refugees and migrants have been stranded in Greece in the past week since border restrictions began along other countries in the Balkan corridor used by individuals to get to central and northern Europe.

Macedonian police fire tear gas on migrants storming Greek border

Earlier on Monday, a crush had developed along the frontier after rumours spread that Macedonian authorities had opened the border after several hours of it remaining sealed shut.

Macedonian police fire tear gas on refugees storming Greek border

Myanmar's democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is likely to speed up elections of the country's president, in a last-minute change following weeks of talks with the military that has stood by the constitution that bars her from assuming the highest office.

Myanmar's parliament dominated by the National League for Democracy (NLD), which swept historic elections in November, will change the date of presidential elections, previously set for March 17, according to the agenda for Tuesday's parliamentary session.

NLD members and analysts say the party was likely to speed up the vote to end weeks of bickering between the army and the NLD over whether junta-drafted constitution, which bars Suu Kyi from becoming president, should be amended.

The original date, set only two weeks before the term of the new government was set to start on April 1, gave Suu Kyi plenty of time to negotiate the terms of the transition. But in the face of the unrelenting military, Suu Kyi decided to speed up the vote to gain time to prepare for government, analysts say.

"It's become clear that amendment of article 59 (f) (barring Suu Kyi from becoming president) is impossible. So they want the presidential nomination to happen earlier so that they can take more time in handling cabinet formation," said political analyst Yan Myo Thein.

The NLD swept the historic Nov. 8 election, securing some 80 percent of elected seats in parliament, or enough to push through its president. Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency because she has foreign children.

Another factor that may have forced the NLD's surprise change of tactics was lack of cooperation from the outgoing administration of President Thein Sein.

Last week, the NLD criticized the military and the army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) over a controversial copper mine project run as a joint venture between a Chinese weapons manufacturer and the Myanmar military. It also zeroed in on other lucrative public works projects awarded by the outgoing government at the last minute.

In a rare show of outrage, the military MPs stood up, while one of the members of the army caucus rejected the NLD's allegations in parliament.

The rare heated debate showed the challenges facing Suu Kyi as she tries to overcome years of corrosive distrust between the junta that had ruled the country for nearly half a century and pro-democracy activists.

Now both sides are forced to share power. The military controls a large chunk of the country's administration through three security ministries, has guaranteed a quarter of the seats in the parliament and a constitutional veto.

Myanmar parliament to change presidential elections date-document

"Present government is responsible only to the previous parliament that formed it," said Thein Sein's spokesman, Ye Htut, backing ministers who refused to come to parliament to face questioning by the NLD.

Parliament to change presidential elections date-document

Israel's long-running struggle to balance modern standards with Jewish tradition has come to a head in the military, where new orders curtailing beards among soldiers have met protests from some rabbis.

Many Orthodox Jewish men go unshaven, a religious observance that Israel's armed forces accommodates. But in recent years, many secular soldiers have also grown beards, a trend that new orders going into effect on Tuesday aim to combat.

Under revised rules, all soldiers will require advance approval from their commanders, rather than military chaplains, to sport a beard. Religious troops can expect to receive permission, but some rabbis complain about the heightened scrutiny.

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner of Beit El settlement in the occupied West Bank described facial hair as an emblem of Jewish fighters from the time of biblical King David. He said soldiers should refuse to obey any shaving orders.

"You can be clean and orderly with a beard, and you can be slovenly without a beard," Aviner told Srugim, a religious Jewish news site.

In a comment that drew headlines on Israeli news websites, Aviner said the military edict reminded him of photographs from the Nazi era showing Jews being forcibly shaved by Germans.

Of requests for beards made so far, 42 percent have been granted on grounds of piety while other applicants were rejected for trying to "hitch a ride" and shirk shaving, chief military spokesman Brigadier-General Motti Almoz told Army Radio.

Almoz argued that freedom of faith had to be weighed against avoiding slovenliness in the conscript ranks, something he said was brought home to him by comparing Israeli troops to U.S. counterparts now visiting the country for an air defence drill.

The dispute has reached into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, where religious Jewish parties are powerful partners.

Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, a lawmaker from the Jewish Home party and the deputy defence minister, told another religious news outlet, Kol Hazman, that the beard order was "unreasonable and illogical" and could hinder efforts to enlist ultra-Orthodox Jews who are generally exempted from the draft.

But with Israel's Supreme Court having struck down an appeal last year against the new regulations, Almoz pledged to prosecute soldiers unwilling to carry out orders to shave.

Israeli military braces for battle over beards

"There is proof that, in terms of appearance and discipline, and at times in operational circumstances, having soldiers with beards is not how a military should look," Almoz said.

Military braces for battle over beards

Russian investigators arrested a nanny and charged her with murdering a young child in her care on Monday after local media broadcast footage of a woman brandishing a severed infant's head near a busy Moscow metro station.

Moscow investigators said in a statement the unnamed nanny was from Central Asia and that she was undergoing psychiatric testing to see if she was mentally sound and understood the significance of the crime they said she had committed.

The portal said a policeman had approached the woman to check her documents and that she had responded by removing the child's head from a bag and begun shouting that she had killed the infant.

One reporter, from the RBC daily, said she had heard the woman screaming "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great).

"I was on my way to the metro station from home," Polina Nikolskaya, the reporter, told Reuters.

"She was standing near the metro entrance and caught my attention because she was screaming Allahu Akbar. I saw that she had a bloodied head in her arms, but I thought it was not real. People in the crowd said it was real."

In other footage of the scene, the woman can be heard shouting about the end of the world while proclaiming herself a terrorist.

Investigators said the murdered child was three or four years old and that the nanny had killed the child in the family's Moscow flat before setting fire to the premises and fleeing.

The motive for the crime was unknown, they said.

Woman charged with murder after brandishing child's severed head in Moscow

Lifenews.ru, an online news portal with close contacts to the police, published video footage of a woman it identified as the nanny. Clad in black, she was seen wandering around the street holding up a child's severed head high in the air.

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the business community in Qatar that Nigeria would remove any impediment that could hinder investment in the country.

A statement in issued in Abuja on Monday by Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, said President Buhari was speaking at a meeting with senior executives of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and some private businessmen in Doha, Qatar.

The President said that security was essential to prosperity and development.

"Nobody invests without first knowing how secure a country is.

"That is why we have placed high premium on securing the country because you cannot effectively manage a country you have not secured.

"My party campaigned on three main planks: security, employment generation and anti-corruption.

"We campaigned on zero corruption, promising that we would run an accountable government and we are keeping our promises,’’ he said.

President Buhari said that Nigeria was blessed with vast arable land for agriculture, and rich deposit of solid minerals, which the businessmen can invest in and reap rich returns in a short while.

"Agriculture and solid minerals will mobilise youths for gainful employment.

"We have the capacity not to need to import food at all.

"But we need to also tackle infrastructure deficit in power, transportation, rail, road, and in other areas.

"We will put together an articulated plan, which would be discussed with you shortly, so that you can make investment decisions.

'All impediments like delayed processing of permits, multiple taxation and corrupt practices would be removed,’’ the President said.

Speaking on behalf of the Qatari businessmen, Muhammed Bin Ahmed Bin Towar Al Kuwari, the Vice Chairman of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said they would be interested in the finance, oil and gas, telecommunications, tourism, agriculture and food processing sectors, among others.

"All eyes are on Africa in the next decade. Africa is the next place for growth; the rest of the world is looking towards the continent and Nigeria is an important part of that continent,’’ he said.

That is why we have placed high premium on securing the country because you cannot effectively manage a country you have not secured.

We will remove impediments to investments

Pakistan on Monday executed a man who killed the governor of Punjab province over his call to reform strict blasphemy laws that carry a death sentence for insulting Islam.

Street protests broke out within hours by supporters of the killer, who consider him a hero for defending the faith. The head of the Islamabad Bar Council called for a day-long strike of lawyers in protest against the hanging.

Mumtaz Qadri, a bodyguard for Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province, shot him dead in the capital, Islamabad, in 2011.

"Qadri was hanged at around 4:30 a.m.," senior police officer Rizwan Omar Gondal said. The execution took place in the city of Rawalpindi outside Islamabad.

After his arrest, Qadri told police he killed Taseer because the governor had championed the cause of a Christian woman sentenced to death in a blasphemy case that arose out of a personal dispute. Taseer had said the law was being misused and should be reformed.

Qadri's attorney said his client told him he had no regrets for killing the governor.

"I have met him twice in jail. He said that even if Allah gave me 50 million lives, I would still sacrifice all of them," lawyer Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry said.

Protesters briefly blocked the main road between Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Monday after news of the hanging broke. Police later dispersed them and closed off the road to prevent more demonstrations.

Chaudhry predicted larger demonstrations coinciding with Qadri's funeral, which his legal group said would be held on Tuesday.

"From what we are seeing, this protest movement is only going to increase," he said.

Late in 2011, an anti-terrorism court handed down a double death sentence to Qadri for murder and terrorism. The sentence was appealed and upheld by the Supreme Court late last year.

More than 100 people are charged with blasphemy each year in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, many of them Christians and other minorities.

Conviction of blasphemy carries a death sentence. No one has yet been hanged, but those convicted languish in prison.

Controversy over the law has exposed the growing gap between religious conservatives and liberals in Pakistan, with hard-line religious leaders considering Taseer a blasphemer himself for even criticising the law.

Some lawyers showered Qadri with rose petals when he first arrived in court days after the killing. The judge who first convicted him was forced to flee the country after death threats.

Pakistan hangs man who killed governor over call to reform blasphemy law

"I have met him twice in jail. He said that even if Allah gave me 50 million lives, I would still sacrifice all of them," lawyer Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry said.

Country hangs man who killed governor over call to reform blasphemy law

Four of the five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing in October appeared on Chinese television confirming for the first time they'd been detained for "illegal book trading" in mainland China.

The five booksellers - including a British and Swedish national - had been linked to the same Hong Kong publisher and bookstore that specialised in gossipy books on the private lives and power struggles of China's Communist Party leaders.

The disappearances have prompted fears that mainland Chinese authorities may be using shadowy tactics that erode the "one country, two systems" formula under which Hong Kong has been governed since its return to China from British rule in 1997.

Four of the men, Gui Minhai, Lui Por, Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kee, gave details of their alleged offences to Phoenix Television on Sunday night.

"I have deeply reflected on what I have done and very much regret the illegal book trading I have carried out with Gui Minhai," said Lui Por in the Phoenix TV report.

In a four-minute report that involved exclusive interviews with the four, they confessed to selling "unauthorised" books in China via an online platform and evading customs inspections to deliver some 4000 books to 380 customers since October 2014.

Gui said he'd altered and obscured the covers of the Hong Kong-printed books with nylon bags to "evade" customs security checks and was singled out by the others as the mastermind. The group had also opened a bank account in China to make payments.

Gui had previously confessed on Chinese state television to a fatal drink-driving incident over a decade ago, after going missing in Thailand late last year.

The TV report also detailed how Lui, Cheung and Lee had been arrested by Chinese authorities in Shenzhen and Dongguan, two cities in southern China close to Hong Kong, in October and then called upon to testify in the case.

"I know that Gui Minhai's books are fabricated. They were downloaded from the Internet, and were pieced together from magazines," said Lam. "They have generated lots of rumours in society and brought a bad influence ... I deeply acknowledge my mistakes and am willing to be penalized," Lam added.

The only bookseller not to appear in the report was Lee Bo, a British passport holder, who Britain said had been "involuntarily removed" to China from Hong Kong in late December, constituting a "serious breach" of a bilateral treaty between the two countries.

A number of governments have expressed concern regarding the disappearances, which some diplomats fear were abductions by Chinese agents in Hong Kong and Thailand.

China's Foreign Ministry, however, has said its law enforcement officials would never do anything illegal, especially not overseas, and called on foreign governments not to interfere in Hong Kong affairs.

The Phoenix television report said Lam, Lui and Cheung might be allowed to return to Hong Kong this week, citing unspecified sources. Gui, however, was expected to remain in detention.

A Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told Reuters by telephone that an envoy had visited Gui on Wednesday and that his condition is "very good", but gave no further details.

A Phoenix Television spokesperson couldn't be immediately reached for comment on how the broadcaster had gained access to the four men.

Missing Hong Kong booksellers say arrested for "illegal trading"