KL to tighten border security with RI and RP

KL to tighten border security with RI and RP

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): A senior Malaysian military official said on Monday that border surveillance will be beefed up to counter security threats emanating from armed rebellion in the Philippines and political unrest in Indonesia.

The security increase follows a year in which extremist Islamic insurgents from the Philippines kidnapped workers and tourists from Malaysian diving resorts and Indonesia's government contended with separatist and religious violence.

The national news agency Bernama quoted the army's deputy chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Abdul Aziz Hassan, as saying in Kuching, capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo island, that two new battalions of soldiers were being sent to monitor the border with Indonesia.

Disputes over logging rights have been common along the border, but emotions ran far higher than usual last month after an Indonesian immigrant maid in Kuching was allegedly beaten with a hammer by her Malaysian employer.

Malaysians crossing from Sarawak to the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan reported being intimidated and harassed in retaliation.

Abdul Aziz also said that measures would be taken to enhance security in Sabah state, north of Sarawak, which was raided twice last year by guerrillas of the Philippine rebel group Abu Sayyaf to take hostages, including foreign tourists.

All were freed following the payment of huge ransoms and eventual attacks on Abu Sayyaf strongholds by the Philippine army. Generally, Malaysia enjoys calm relations with its neighbors and does not face any military threat.

Most Malaysian military operations are focused on combating piracy and preventing illegal immigration from Indonesia and the Philippines, both countries that are much poorer than Malaysia.

Meanwhile, thousands of Malaysians have signed a petition urging UN chief Kofi Annan to head an international campaign for the release of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, supporters said on Monday.

Raja Petra Kamarudin, director of the FreeAnwar Campaign, told AFP that about 21,000 people petitioned the United Nations secretary-general "to lead the world community in demanding the immediate and unconditional release" of Anwar.

The petition was handed in to the local UN office Monday, he said. It was launched on Oct. 14 by the women's wing of the National Justice Party led by Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

"Many appeals have been made to the authorities by various sectors of Malaysian society but they have fallen on deaf ears. We are now inviting the world community to add its voice to ours," the petition said.

It said Anwar's sacking as deputy premier and his subsequent arrest, assault and imprisonment were tantamount to a travesty of justice.

"He has been subjected to farcical trials which have outraged the international judicial and legal fraternity," it said, describing Anwar as a victim of malicious, vicious political persecution.

"He posed a challenge to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's authoritarian might and the corruption and cronyism that taint his regime.

"This is why he had to be removed from position and power. This is why he languishes in prison today. This is why the international community has to respond to the injustice perpetrated against the man," the petition said.

The Malaysian government denies any political motives against Anwar and says he received fair trials. "At this juncture, with Anwar once again seriously ill in hospital, there is an added urgency to our appeal," the petition said.

Anwar was taken from prison to a government hospital on November 25 with acute back pain which he believes is partly due to an assault in 1998 by the then-police chief, Rahim Noor.

The officer has been jailed for two months for the assault but is free pending appeal.

Mahathir sacked Anwar on Sept. 2, 1998. He was arrested 18 days later following mass anti-government rallies. In April 1999 Anwar was jailed for six years for abuse of power and in August last year was imprisoned for nine years for sodomy, with the sentences to run consecutively.