Terrorist threat imperils SE Asian prosperity: S'pore<\/p>\n
Agencies, Bangkok<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian nations must unite against the terrorist threat
\nif they hope to lift the region out of its lingering economic
\nmalaise, Singapore's Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said on
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
Wong told a conference of Asian parliamentarians that the
\nregion was facing tough times, ignored by investors and dogged by
\nthe 1997 economic crisis which it has failed to shake off.<\/p>\n
"Any hope for a gingerly recovery as we turned around the last
\ncentury was dashed when a new threat confronted the world on
\nSeptember 11 last year," he said.<\/p>\n
And illusions that the specter of terrorism was confined to
\nthe Middle East or targets in the Western world were smashed by
\nlast month's bombings in Bali, which "painfully punctured all
\nsuch self-denial and self-delusion."<\/p>\n
"So long as our collective regional security is at stake, the
\nroad to our economic recovery is paved with land-mines. None of
\nus can really pull ourselves out of the gloom which threatens to
\nhang over the region," he said.<\/p>\n
Wong said that as the long battle against terrorism in the
\nregion began, each country had to find ways to avert the threat
\nof violence and check religious extremism within Islamic
\ncommunities.<\/p>\n
Every country had a "responsibility to ensure that terrorism
\nin its domain is not exported to threaten the lives of the
\ncitizens of other nations or to undermine the security and
\nstability of the region."<\/p>\n
With a nod to the region's policy of non-interference in other
\nnation's affairs, he urged Singapore's neighbors to take
\n"concrete and direct collaborative action" against terrorism.<\/p>\n
"We have to cooperate. Our economic recovery and security are
\nintertwined. If we handle our security issues right, we will be
\nable to present to the rest of the world a region which is stable
\nand effective in coping with any threat.<\/p>\n
"Then economic and political confidence in the region will be
\nstrengthened and the prospect of our coming out of the woods will
\nbe a more certain and confident outcome... Otherwise, our region
\nwill be simply overlooked and by-passed."<\/p>\n
Singapore is a key U.S. ally in Southeast Asia in the fight
\nagainst global terrorism and provides logistical support to the
\nU.S. navy.<\/p>\n
It has arrested 31 suspected religious militants in connection
\nwith an alleged plot to bomb targets in the city-state, including
\nthe U.S. embassy, other foreign missions as well as the Singapore
\ndefense ministry.<\/p>\n
Neighboring Malaysia and the Philippines have also made
\nsimilar arrests while Indonesia has toughened its stance on
\nextremists following the Oct. 12 car bomb massacre in Bali, which
\nkilled more than 190 people.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the political parties from 25 Asian nations on
\nSunday voiced opposition to unilateral armed action in fighting
\nterrorism, stressing that the United Nations should play the lead
\nrole.<\/p>\n
"We all support a multilateral approach to resolving the issue
\nof terrorism or to combating terrorism and not a unilateral
\naction," Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told a press
\nconference concluding a conference of 77 Asian political parties.<\/p>\n
Economic and political issues, terrorism and the possibility
\nof a U.S.-led attack on Iraq were on the agenda of the three-day
\nInternational Conference of Asian Political Parties, which aimed
\nto increase cooperation among Asian political parties.<\/p>",
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