Malaysia rule out covert U.S. attacks
Malaysia rule out covert U.S. attacks
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia will not permit the United States to conduct airstrikes
and covert attacks against any terrorists that would be found
here, government leaders said.
"If you just launch airstrikes, it is not going to help in the
fight against terrorism," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was
quoted as saying by The Star newspaper on Monday. "We will not
agree for our territory to be used that way."
Syed Hamid was commenting on a top U.S. counterterrorism
official's suggestion that covert attacks such as the Central
Intelligence Agency missile strike that killed a suspected al-
Qaeda leader in Yemen last week could be used against terrorists
in Southeast Asia.
Asked at a news conference in Manila, the Philippines, on
Saturday whether such a strike could be made in Southeast Asia
against suspected terrorists, U.S. Ambassador at Large Francis X.
Taylor, Washington's coordinator for counterterrorism, suggested
it was an option.
A Predator drone aircraft near Marib, Yemen, fired a missile
Nov. 5 at a car carrying Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, al-Qaeda's
chief operative in Yemen and a suspect in a number of terrorist
strikes. U.S. officials have said they were working with Yemeni
authorities.
Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak said U.S. authorities
"cannot use a Predator in this country without the government's
consent."
"They are not invited here," Najib was quoted as saying by the
Utusan Malaysia newspaper. "If such a thing happens, it will be
considered a breach of this country's sovereignty."
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysia was
"not a country that wants to allow another country to carry out
operations in our country."
"We know when to cooperate to fight terrorism ... but not to
the extent of carrying out certain operations without our
knowledge," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the national news
agency, Bernama.
Since mid-2001, Malaysian authorities have arrested more than
70 suspected militants under a security law allowing indefinite
detention without trial. Most are accused of belonging to Jamaah
Islamiyah, the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic extremist group suspected
in the Oct. 12 bombings that killed nearly 200 people on
Indonesia's Bali island.
Meanwhile, a Malaysian opposition leader accused the
authorities on Monday of flouting the rule of law by re-arresting
a suspected Islamic militant set free by court order.
Malaysian police returned Nasharuddin Nasir to his cell barely
minutes after his release on Saturday after Deputy Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also home minister, signed a new
two-year detention order.
Opposition Democratic Action Party Chairman Lim Kit Siang,
himself a former ISA detainee, said the rearrest flouted the law.
"The issue at stake is not whether one is for or against
terrorism but whether one is for or against the rule of law -- as
the war on terrorism must not be waged in utter and reckless
disregard for the rule of law," he said in a statement.
Nasharuddin's temporary release followed a ruling by the High
Court in Shah Alam near Kuala Lumpur, which quashed a detention
order alleging involvement with Jamaah Islamiah, his lawyers
said.
Authorities say Nasharuddin Nasir, among about 70 militant
suspects Malaysia has arrested in the last 18 months, is a member
of the Southeast Asian Islamic group Jamaah Islamiah, an
organization said to have ties to the al-Qaeda network.
Nasharuddin, a 45-year-old trader, has been held since April
under the Internal Security Act (ISA), a legacy of British
colonial rule allowing indefinite detention without trial.