Malaysian media calls for greater security

Malaysian media calls for greater security

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysian media jostled on Wednesday over
whether better security in Southeast Asian seas would keep
pirates and terrorists at bay and preserve the steady flow of
tourists to the country's beaches.

"Our police force and navy must beef up their strength and
step up surveillance," Toman Mamora, editor of the Sarawak
Tribune, one of Borneo's leading dailies, said in a telephone
interview.

Mamora said a massive public relations exercise would be
needed to restore international confidence after 21 people were
abducted by gunmen from a Malaysian resort on Sipadan Island last
Sunday and reportedly taken to Philippine waters.

The hostages forced onto fishing boats included two French
tourists, three Germans, two South Africans, two Finns and one
Lebanese, as well as a Filipino worker and nine Malaysians,
authorities said.

Sipadan Island is off the eastern coast of Borneo's northern
Sabah state. The waters surrounding Sabah are said to be infested
with pirates who prey on coastal towns and fishermen.

Even before the kidnapping, many Sabah newspapers had called
for enhanced cooperation between Malaysian and Philippine
security forces to vanquish pirates in the region.
"There will be nothing for foreign visitors to fear once
authorities enforce more stringent security measures," said James
Sarda, chief editor of Sabah's Daily Express newspaper.

Malaysian Inspector General of Police Norian Mai on Wednesday
announced that all foreign boats entering Sabah's waters,
especially from the Philippines, would now be subjected to
mandatory police checks.

Norian however said that Sabah's vast waters make it difficult
for authorities to monitor all entry points.

Many government leaders, including Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad, say Sunday's abduction was an isolated incident and have
instructed the local media not to play it up.

"We hope the press reports whatever is issued by the
government without relying on rumors," Sabah Chief Minister Osu
Sukam said on Wednesday.

Major newspapers were mostly anxious about whether the
kidnapping would scare off the 400,000 foreigners who visit Sabah
every year, many of whom come here for diving and ecotourism.

"The beauty of this island which is one of the world's top
diving spots has been marred by the actions of the armed
assailants," the Malay-language Berita Harian newspaper said in
its editorial on Wednesday.

"The incident on Sipadan Island should be a lesson to all
parties that some areas in this country, especially the islands
within our waters, are still not safe," the daily said.

Meanwhile, another five people have been detained in
connection with the weekend abduction from the Malaysian resort
island off Borneo, a police source said on Wednesday.

The five were picked up late Tuesday, bringing the total
number of suspects arrested to 10, a police source told AFP.

The five were boatmen and former resort workers on Sipadan and
Mabul islands, east of Malaysia's Sabah state, he said.

Five people had been detained earlier this week to assist in
police investigations into the kidnapping of 21 people including
10 foreign tourists by masked gunmen on the Sipadan island late
Sunday.