Americans across Southeast Asia to mark Sept. 11 attacks

Americans across Southeast Asia to mark Sept. 11 attacks

Mike Casey, Associated Press, Singapore

Twelve months after the Sept. 11 attacks, Southeast Asia has become known as the second front in Washington's war on terror.

Amid tightened security and heightened anxiety across the region, Americans here will remember the attacks with church bells, memorial services and candlelight vigils.

"This is clearly something no one will forget," said Joanne Blakemore, a native New Yorker who is helping organize memorial events in Singapore. "The day for me will be one of sadness but also commitment. A lot of people in this community lost someone or have friends who lost someone."

Southeast Asia is home to many expatriates, and tens of thousands of local people have studied or worked in the United States.

U.S. troops have helped fight Moro extremists in the Philippines, in the first expansion of the U.S. war on terror outside of Afghanistan. Dozens of Islamic hardliners allegedly linked to al-Qaeda have been detained in Singapore, Malaysia and in other countries.

Last month, the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations concluded an anti-terrorism cooperation pact. Under the agreement, the 10-member grouping agreed to share information and boost police cooperation with Washington.

Fearing another terrorist attack, governments across the region were expected to bolster security on Wednesday and American embassies in many countries are to be on heightened alert.

"There is no more immediate security threat facing the regional countries now than that of global terrorism," Singapore's vice defense minister, Teo Chee Hean, said on Saturday.

The government said last week it would beef up security at its airport, ferry terminals and bridges through Sept. 11.

U.S. embassies in Jakarta, Indonesia, Hanoi, Vietnam and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will also hold memorial services on Wednesday.