KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysian police have completed a sweep of the airport terminal where the exiled half-brother of North Korea's leader was attacked and say they found no trace of the nerve agent that was suspected to have been used to kill him.
Senior police official Abdul Samah Mat, who is leading the investigation, declared the budget terminal at Kuala Lumpur's airport a "safe zone" after the sweep detected no hazardous material. More than a dozen officers in protective gear conducted the two-hour sweep early Sunday.
The investigation has unleashed a serious diplomatic fight between Malaysia and North Korea, a prime suspect in the Feb. 13 killing of Kim Jong Nam. Friday's revelation by Malaysian police that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim raised the stakes significantly in a case that has broad geopolitical implications.
The sweep involved officers from the police's chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear teams, as well as the fire department's hazardous materials unit and the government's atomic energy board.
Abdul Samah says the budget terminal is "free from any form of contamination of hazardous material."