Howard lashes rival for opposing strikes on SE Asia

Howard lashes rival for opposing strikes on SE Asia

Agencies, Canberra

Prime Minister John Howard criticized on Sunday his election rival Mark Latham for ruling out pre-emptive strikes against terrorist targets in Southeast Asia if Australia were under direct threat.

Howard caused a storm in the wake of the 2002 Bali bombings when he said he would order pre-emptive strikes in neighboring countries if it was learned an organization such as Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) was planning an attack on Australia.

Opposition Labor Party leader Latham rejected the notion of pre-emptive strikes when asked what his approach to regional terrorism would be if he won national elections on Oct. 9.

"We've rejected Mr. Howard's notion of pre-emption, extended pre-emption," Latham told Channel Nine. "You need to do things in cooperation with our neighbors.

"There's obviously sovereignty issues involved with that question, our approach is diplomacy cooperation with our neighbors."

Latham said Howard's approach had caused concern around the region and the prime minister was eventually forced to back away from them.

But Howard said he had never backed away from his policy of pre-emption and was alarmed by Latham's remarks.

"The question was 'If you knew there was going to be an attack on Australia, would you be willing to act to stop it?'" Howard told reporters.

"What other answer can an Australian prime minister give than to give that answer? I'm amazed that Mr. Latham didn't give the same answer as I gave."

JI set off a car bomb that killed nine people outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta this month and was responsible for the October 2002 Bali bombings in which 88 Australians were among the 202 dead.

Latham said Australia should be concentrating resources on helping its neighbors fight terrorism in the region, rather than taking part in the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

He has vowed to bring most of Australia's 850 troops in and around Iraq back to Australia by Christmas if he wins the election.

While Howard is adamant Australia's troops will remain in Iraq until the job is done and Defense Minister Robert Hill said on Sunday that could be as early as the end of next year according to a United Nations timetable.

Latham also made a push on Sunday on security, one of the government's strongest points, promising to bolster maritime defense with a coastguard and sea marshals if it wins an Oct. 9 election.

Latham, whose party has fallen behind Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government in a recent poll, said the A$300 million (US$210 million) plan would free Australia's navy to fight security threats.

"Australia has 37,000 km of coastline and only Labor's plan for a coastguard will protect us from the gun runners, drug traffickers and people smugglers," said Latham, who announced the policy in Australia's northern city of Darwin.

"An Australian coastguard will free up the navy to focus on defense priorities, including the war on terror in our region."

Howard's eight-year-old government won the last election in Nov. 2001, on the back of a strong economy and a tough stance on border protection, which included deploying the navy to divert boatloads of illegal immigrants away from Australia.

The election has attracted international attention as it precedes the U.S. presidential vote on Nov. 2 being fought largely on security and the war on terror, and a British vote widely expected to be called in May or June.

Labor's maritime security plan consists of three armed deep ocean vessels with helicopter landing platforms, five smaller armed vessels, three helicopters, an armed sea marshals program and a vessel tracking system for Darwin harbor.

Latham said seas marshals would be authorized to board and secure high-risk vessels, carrying cargoes such as fertilizers and chemicals, for safe passage into major Australian ports.

But Foreign Minister Alexander Downer questioned why Labor would want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars changing a maritime security system that he said was already seeing results.

"The fact of the matter is that under the Howard government, Australia has a world-class coastal surveillance system in place that is working incredibly well," Downer said in a statement.