'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.