Lee expresses concern over militancy growth in SE Asia<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan
\nYew told Malaysian legislators on Tuesday of his concern that
\nMuslim extremist groups were taking root in the region.<\/p>\n
\"He genuinely seemed concerned that extremist Islamic elements
\ncould take root in Singapore like here, saying the battle against
\nthis must be kept up relentlessly as this sort of thing can keep
\ncropping up,\" commented a member of a backbenchers club which met
\nwith Lee on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"He said compared to last year, Southeast Asia was calmer this
\nyear with the resolution of political conflicts in the
\nPhilippines and Indonesia. But this militancy thing is a new
\nthreat,\" said the legislator, who requested anonymity.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak told Lee on Monday
\nabout efforts to bust an Afghan-inspired militant group Kumpulan
\nMujahidin Malaysia (KMM), which police say is involved in murder,
\nrobbery and religious terrorism.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said at the weekend KMM had formed networks with
\nlikeminded groups elsewhere in the region. Indonesia and Malaysia
\nhave Muslim majorities, while other countries in the region, most
\nnotably the Philippines, have sizable Muslim minorities.<\/p>\n
Ten members of the hitherto unknown KMM were rounded up a
\nmonth ago and are being held under a security law allowing
\ndetention without trial.<\/p>\n
One of the men is a son of the spiritual leader of Parti Islam
\nse-Malaysia (PAS), the largest party in Malaysia's mainstream
\nopposition.<\/p>\n
PAS says it is against militancy and its leaders say Mahathir
\nis behaving like a dictator and the men should be tried if there
\nis evidence against them.<\/p>\n
But Lee, who has described PAS as a potentially destabilizing
\nforce in the region should it ever win power, was concerned over
\nthe links to the Islamic party, according to Domestic Trade and
\nConsumer Affairs Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.<\/p>\n
\"He stressed this clearly during our discussion,\" Muhyiddin
\nsaid, according to Bernama news agency.<\/p>\n
Malaysia and Singapore reached breakthroughs on Tuesday on
\nseveral long-time disputes, from water supply to the construction
\nof new transport links, after their veteran leaders met in a
\ntough bargaining session.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Lee made a surprise
\nannouncement to a news conference that they had settled issues
\nbedeviling relations between the two countries for years.<\/p>\n
These included guarantees that Malaysia would keep supplying
\nwater to the island city-state after 2061, which had been in
\ndoubt.<\/p>\n
Singapore had asked for a guarantee of 750 million gallons
\n(2.85 billion liters) per day beyond 2061. Malaysia agreed to
\nless half that, 350 million gallons per day, and the fees will
\nrise 15-fold.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said that Malaysia would never cut off Singapore's
\nwater supply, but that the fee would be reviewed every five years
\nafter 2061.<\/p>\n
\"We have assured water supply after 2061,\" Lee said. \"This is
\na tradeoff for long-term security\"<\/p>\n
Singapore agreed to Malaysia's proposal that the road causeway
\nlinking the countries would be demolished and replaced with a
\nbridge and undersea tunnel after 2007.<\/p>\n
They also resolved disputes over the use of Malaysian-owned
\nrailway land in Singapore, requests by the Singaporean air force
\nto use Malaysian air space, and withdrawals from Singapore's
\ncentral provident fund by peninsular Malaysians working in
\nSingapore.<\/p>\n
Lee said officials from both nations would meet to fill in the
\nblanks of an agreement for Mahathir and Singapore Prime Minister
\nGoh Chok Tong to finalize and sign. No deadline was given, but
\nMahathir said that he would like to do it as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
\"It's been a tough deal, because Dr. Mahathir is not somebody
\nyou can take for granted, and he has driven me back as far as I
\ncan go,\" Lee told the press.<\/p>\n
Relations between Malaysia and its tiny but prosperous
\nneighbor have often been prickly since Singapore was ejected from
\nthe federation of Malaysia in 1965, two years after it was
\nfounded.<\/p>\n
Lee is recognized as the founder of modern day Singapore and
\nis widely credited for transforming the former British colony
\ninto one of Asia's wealthiest countries.<\/p>",
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