Malaysia, S'pore to boost security in strait

Malaysia, S'pore to boost security in strait

Agence France-Presse
Putrajaya, Malaysia

Malaysia and Singapore on Tuesday agreed to increase cooperation
to fight terrorism and improve maritime security, particularly in
the pirate-infested Malacca Strait amid signs of improving
bilateral ties.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his Singapore
counterpart Tony Tan, who is on a three-day visit to Malaysia,
underlined the importance of boosting security cooperation to
curb the threat of terrorism.

"We agree that cooperation should not stop where it is at now
but we should review and explore new ways to enhance cooperation
in the field of security," Najib told reporters after a 45-minute
meeting with Tan.

Najib, who is also defense minister, said armed forces
officials from both countries would soon meet to identify new
ways to bolster security, especially maritime security.

"We are fairly confident, we are on top of things but we are
not taking anything for granted," he said, adding that "our main
concern is the question of maritime security."

Malaysia has not suffered any terror attacks on its soil but
has detained some 90 alleged militants suspected of belonging to
regional militant groups such as the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI), which carried out the 2002 Bali bombing in
Indonesia which killed 202 people.

Najib however ruled out joint naval patrols in the Malacca
Strait, saying territorial integrity must be respected.

"At the moment, we are not considering joint patrols," he
said.

The narrow, 960-kilometer waterway, through which about half
the world's oil supplies and a third of global trade passes, runs
along the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore recently launched year-round
coordinated naval patrols in the strait.

Singapore and the United States have expressed fears of terror
attacks involving hijacked ships in the strait.

Pirate attacks in the strait rose 33 percent between January
and June from a year ago, the International Maritime Bureau said
on Monday.

Tan, who is also Singapore's coordinating minister for
security and defense, said cooperation would continue to
strengthen as the neighbors faced new terror threats.

"The field of security and defense keeps on changing. We face
new threats fighting against radical terrorism. We have to work
together," he said.

Tan said defense and security officials from Singapore,
Malaysia and Indonesia would get together to exchange ideas to
strengthen cooperation.

"We agreed we should move forward from the coordinated patrols
in order to see what the three of us can take to enhance
security," he said.