KL to cooperate on Malacca Straits security

KL to cooperate on Malacca Straits security

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia shares Singapore's concern over security in the Malacca Straits and welcomes cooperation against terrorism short of the deployment of foreign forces, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Tuesday.

The minister ruled out the idea of United States marines helping to patrol the vital waterway, which carries half the world's oil and a third of its trade, saying such a move would provoke Islamic militants.

"It must not be the placing of bases or surveillance on a permanent basis along our waters because it will attract a different security threat from what we are used to," Syed Hamid told reporters, adding that Malaysia's approach to security in the strait differed only in style from Singapore and neighboring countries.

"Malaysia's position is not in contradiction to any other country."

The minister said collaboration and cooperation with other countries in ensuring the security of the narrow waterway, which slices peninsular Malaysia and Singapore from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, was "very much welcome."

"Malaysia believes it is always positive for us to have shared responsibilities, but this shared responsibility must not be at the expense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the littoral states," he said.

The minister said he believed that mistakes had been made in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

"We relied heavily on a military solution to the problem without looking at the root causes of that terrorist incident," said Syed Hamid.

"Unfortunately, we have yet to learn that security could not be achieved solely through enforcement and military solutions. We must address the underlying causes and the environment that breeds terrorism," he added.

Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak said in Singapore on Sunday that Malaysia would work more closely with the U.S. against regional terrorism, but insisted U.S. forces would not be allowed to join "interdiction" operations in the straits.

The presence of foreign forces in the region would fuel religious fanaticism, he warned, and "set us back in our ideological battle against extremism and militancy".

Najib told a regional security conference that he would meet with the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Admiral Thomas Fargo, this month to discuss maritime security.

Fargo suggested in April that one option under consideration was putting marines and special operations forces aboard high speed vessels in the strait.