Investigations are underway in a Malaysian people-smuggling network similar to the one that led to the asylum-seekers' ferry sinking disaster last week, reported the daily An Nahar on Wednesday.

It said that the network is headed by Elie A. who owns a fake travel agency in Dekwaneh on the outskirts of Beirut and cooperates with Mohammed T., in the town of Mishmish in the northern region of Akkar, and Ahmed H., who works in the southern city of Sidon.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak pleaded Saturday for Muslims to unite against extremism, warning that sectarian violence risked tearing the Islamic world apart.

"I believe the greatest threat to Muslims today comes not from the outside world, but from within," he told the U.N. General Assembly.

At least 60 Lebanese migrants drowned on Friday as they attempted to sail from Indonesia to Australia, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

It said that no more than ten people survived the trip between the two countries and the corpses of the victims began to wash ashore on one of the Indonesian islands.

Barack Obama will pay the first visit by a U.S. president to Malaysia in a half-century on a four-nation Asia tour next month, the White House said Friday.

Obama will attend summits in Indonesia and Brunei and also visit longtime U.S. ally the Philippines during the October 6-12 trip.

Nelson Mandela remains in a critical but stable condition, South African President Jacob Zuma said Tuesday, more than two months after the anti-apartheid hero was hospitalized with a recurring lung infection.

"Former president Mandela is still in hospital receiving treatment and remains in a critical but stable condition," Zuma said in speech issued by the presidency.

Gunmen dressed as local officials killed three Muslim civilians at a tea shop in Thailand's insurgency-hit south on Saturday, according to police, in the latest act of violence in the festering rebellion.

Up to eight suspected rebels wearing government-style caps and carrying apparent official documents opened fire with machine guns on the tea shop in Raman district of Yala province on Saturday morning.

The Pentagon is moving forces into place in case President Barack Obama opts for military action against Syria, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel suggested Friday.

Amid calls for military intervention after the Syrian regime carried out an alleged chemical weapons attack this week, U.S. commanders have prepared a range of "options" for Obama if he chooses to launch an attack on the Damascus regime, Hagel told reporters aboard his plane en route to Malaysia.

Officials confirmed Thursday foreigners were among the 37 people killed when a bus crashed in Malaysia's worst-ever road accident, as reports said the vehicle was overloaded and had been banned from roads.

The express bus had 53 aboard when it veered off a busy and treacherous mountain road Wednesday, tumbling into a deep gully and scattering dead and injured on the mountainside.

At least 37 people are confirmed dead after a bus tumbled into a deep ravine Wednesday in Malaysia's worst-ever road accident, an official said.

The toll could climb further because 16 other passengers were injured, with hospitals reporting some in critical condition.

The Philippines on Tuesday ordered the mandatory evacuation of its 6,000 nationals in Egypt after Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario visited the country to investigate the security situation after days of violent clashes.

Rosario also ordered the deployment of a special team to Cairo to help speed the repatriation of the Filipinos, who he urged to contact their embassy.