'Iconic' firms, nations with U.S. ties are terror targets
'Iconic' firms, nations with U.S. ties are terror targets
Jason Gutierrez, Agence France-Presse/Manila
Multinational firms that are "iconic" in the West, and countries with ties with the United States and substantial Muslim populations are high on the list of potential terror targets in Southeast Asia, security experts said on Wednesday.
Despite the efforts of countries like Singapore and Indonesia to thwart terrorism, including by rounding up militants, it will remain a major problem in the long term, said Andrew Tan, from Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies.
The audacity of the 9-11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. was an example for emerging and established terrorist groups, while "strategic errors" in Iraq were alienating and radicalizing Muslims, he said.
Terrorist groups can "be expected to display greater guile and stealth in their operations, and achieve greater lethality, posing a very serious threat to global security for the foreseeable future," Tan told a two-day security forum in Manila.
"The threat in the region is even more serious," he said, noting the presence of radical Muslims in Indonesia and the unrest Muslim-majority southern Thailand.
Commenting on the Thai government's heavy-handed response to the unrest last year, when several Muslims were killed, he asked: "The question now is, will southern Thailand become the region's Chechnya?"
"In Southeast Asia, we will see continuing terrorist threats in the region, with continued efforts made to strike U.S. interests and those of its allies," he said.
Other targets could be civilian aircraft, ports, computer networks and Western companies that were "iconic symbols," he said, stopping short of naming specific companies.
Companies operating in the region should cooperate closely with governments and "devise measures to protect key terrorist targets," Tan said.
Businesses should "invest in hardening installations", put in place contingency measures in case of attacks, and link up with community leaders who may be able to provide early warning, he said.
Security analysts in the region agree terrorism "is most serious at this point" in the Philippines, where Muslim separatists rebels in the southern island of Mindanao have forged links with al-Qaeda fronts such as the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) network, Tan said.
The Philippines' deputy national security advisor, Virtus Gil, confirmed reports that two senior JI Indonesian members were believed to be seeking refuge in areas in Mindanao controlled by Muslim rebels.
He identified them as Omar Patek and Dulmatim, two men who played key roles in bombings in Bali, Indonesia in 2002 that killed more than 200 people.
"Mindanao is very strategic for the JI," Gil said. "There is a possibility, though subject to validation, that the JI may have shifted their strategic base in the country."
Another senior Philippine intelligence official said Patek and Dulmatim were among 40 known JI operatives in Mindanao and may be buying time before carrying out future attacks.
To deal with the terror threat, "We will have to trade freedom for more security," Tan said.
"This means that in the coming years, we will see even more government-led measures that will hinder the free flow of commerce and information, increase the cost of business and constrain our freedoms," he said.