KL detains Thais and Malaysian over tugboat attack
KL detains Thais and Malaysian over tugboat attack
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta
Malaysian police have detained four Thais and a Malaysian whose fishing vessel is suspected of involvement in a pirate attack on a Japanese tugboat in the Strait of Malacca, a spokesman said on Friday.
"We detained the fishing boat on Thursday. The five crew members are being questioned now. The boat is alleged to have been used in the attack," Mokhtar Othman, operations officer for Malaysia's northern region marine police, told AFP.
Mokhtar said the registration number of the Malaysia- registered boat was the same as that on one of the craft involved in Monday's attack, in which two Japanese officers and a Filipino crewman were kidnapped.
An Indonesian vessel was hijacked by pirates on the same day, but the crew and ship were later released. During the hijacking, one of the seamen tried to contact fellow seamen. This helped police estimate the location of the vessel.
In Jakarta, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that the police had narrowed down the location of the pirates.
"The National Police, along with North Sumatra and Riau police, are trying to detect the location of the pirate ship. Based on our information, one of the kidnapped (Indonesian) seamen tried to contact colleagues and from radio transmission we determined that the location was around Berhala island near Sumatra. The area is vast," Da'i told The Jakarta Post and other newspapers on Friday.
"However, we don't yet know the location of the kidnapped Japanese seamen or whether they were kidnapped by the same group.
"Based on our information, the pirate vessel used to hijack the Japanese ship was a fishing boat flying a Malaysian flag. So far there has been no negotiation with the hijackers," Da'i said.
Mokhtar said the remaining crew of the tugboat and the barge it was towing were expected to attend a lineup to ascertain whether the detained suspects were involved in the attack.
The pirates, who are expected to make a ransom demand, had not yet communicated with the Japanese shipowners, he said.
Mokhtar said the marine police were under intense pressure to locate the kidnap victims and arrest the pirates and were working closely with their Indonesian counterparts.
"Since it involves international nationals, the focus is on us to resolve the issue," he said.
The strait, which carries a third of world trade and half its oil supplies, separates peninsular Malaysia and Singapore from Indonesia's Sumatra island, providing the quickest route from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea.
The U.S. ambassador to Malaysia said on Friday that Washington was concerned about piracy and the potential for terrorism in the strait and was prepared to help secure the vital shipping lane if asked.
"Obviously, all of us are concerned about the increase over the period of time in pirate attacks. We must be concerned about potential for terrorists to also operate somehow in the strait," Christopher J. La Fleur was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
"The U.S. obviously has various sorts of military capability and if asked, of course we will be happy to consult with countries in the region on this issue."
Malaysia has repeatedly rejected the involvement of forces from the United States or other foreign governments in patrolling the shipping lane, saying it would infringe on its sovereignty and attract rather than repel terrorism.
Indonesia also insisted on Friday that outsiders were unwelcome on patrols in the strait because security was the responsibility of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
"Indonesia's position is clear. We believe that the responsibility for maritime security in the Malacca Strait belongs to the littoral states, including Indonesia," foreign ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said.
Singapore's defense minister Teo Chee Hean said on Thursday in Jakarta that Japan was considering a role in multinational patrols in the strait.
Thamrin said that while such a move was unwanted, Indonesia would welcome assistance aimed at strengthening its navy.
La Fleur agreed that the three littoral states had the primary responsibility of dealing with pirate attacks.
"If there are ways that we can help, then certainly we are prepared to talk."