Matori to meet PM Goh Chok Tong

Matori to meet PM Goh Chok Tong

A visit to Singapore Monday by Indonesia's defense minister
Matori Abdul Djalil "underscores the excellent defense relations"
between the two countries, the Singapore government said in a
press release.

Officials would not disclose the main topics of discussions in
meetings between Matori and Singaporean leaders. However, the
threat of extremist Islamic groups scattered across Southeast
Asia has brought regional defense officials into closer contact.

Matori's visit, which will include meetings with Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong and Defense Minister Tony Tan, as
well as a tour of a Singaporean military institute. It's one stop
on a tour of 10 Southeast Asian countries.

The discovery of what appears to be a widespread network of
al-Qaeda linked radical Muslim groups in Southeast Asia has
convinced many in the region of the need to cooperate and share
intelligence. However, Indonesia has been criticized for being
slow to arrest alleged members of the network.

Dozens of suspected Muslim militants arrested recently in
Malaysia and Singapore are thought to have ties to an Indonesia-
based Muslim cleric, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. Ba'asyir is the alleged
leader of Jemaah Ismaliyah, an organization with cells in
Malaysia, Singapore and the southern Philippines.

Officials in Singapore have said that intelligence sharing
with neighboring countries has become a priority since the Sept.
11 attacks in the United States. -- AP