No plan to deploy troops to Malacca Strait: U.S.<\/p>\n
Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The United States has no plan to deploy any of its troops to the
\nStraits of Malacca to flush out terrorists and curb piracy, the
\nU.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce said in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Admiral (Thomas B.) Fargo never said the U.S. was going to
\nsend its marines or special forces to the Straits of Malacca. The
\nAFP story ... was misleading,\" Boyce said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Boyce was referring to a statement made by the head of the
\nHawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command during a congressional hearing
\nin Washington on March 31. The AFP news agency carried a story on
\nApril 4 quoting Fargo's speech. The report said the U.S. planned
\n(initially AFP used the word 'plans' and later revised it to
\n'considers'-- Editor) to deploy marines and special operations
\nforces along the Straits of Malacca -- the world's busiest
\nwaterways -- to flush out terrorists.<\/p>\n
\"He (Fargo) said there is an initiative with countries in the
\nregion to work together in cooperation -- and only obviously at
\nthe invitation of the countries like Malaysia, Singapore or
\nIndonesia -- to address transnational threats in some joint
\nfashion,\" Boyce said.<\/p>\n
\"Fargo was speaking in a congressional hearing purely
\nhypothetically. How could we make a unilateral proposal like that
\nwithout the close cooperation and support of the elements in the
\nregion? It doesn't make any sense. There is nothing the
\ngovernment of Indonesia or Malaysia needs to reject, because
\nthere is no proposal and there is no plan. They know about that
\nalready,\" the ambassador said.<\/p>\n
On April 10, Indonesian Navy chief Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh
\nrejected Adm. Fargo's suggestions, calling the idea \"baseless.\"<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Navy was capable of securing the Straits of
\nMalacca, Bernard said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has also said his
\ncountry had no plans to seek U.S. help to guard the Malacca
\nStraits against possible attacks on ships by terrorists.<\/p>\n
The task of guarding the Malacca Strait was the joint
\nresponsibility of Malaysia and Indonesia, Najib said.<\/p>\n
Boyce said the U.S. wanted to work with governments in the
\nregion on a multilateral basis to deal with transnational crimes.<\/p>\n
Fargo, he said, was speaking about the U.S. Regional Maritime
\nSecurity Initiative (RMSI), a multi-year program designed to deal
\nwith transnational threats and crime on the seas.<\/p>\n
Boyce said the U.S. was involved in early dialog with
\nSoutheast Asian countries to discuss how they could jointly
\naddress these threats.<\/p>\n
\"They (the talks) are in a very, very preliminary stage,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The RMSI is intended to facilitate information sharing and law
\nenforcement activities between participating nations to monitor,
\nidentify and intercept suspect vessels and activities in national
\nand international waters.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-plan-to-deploy-troops-to-malacca-strait-us-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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