Malaysia's health minister on Friday gave tobacco companies two weeks to stop what he called a price war aimed at luring buyers with cheap cigarettes, the national news agency reported.

Bernama news agency reported that Health Minister Chua Soi Lek met with representatives of firms such as British American Tobacco, JT International and Philip Morris on Friday, and said that the companies have two weeks to bring prices back up. Should they fail to do so, the government may step in to set cigarette retail prices, so Chua. (sra)