RI, Malaysia can safeguard Malacca Strait, U.S. says

Veeramalla Anjaiah, Jakarta

In a clear attempt to calm down Indonesia and Malaysia, a senior U.S. diplomat emphasized on Monday the two countries were more than capable of safeguarding the Strait of Malacca and played down the possibility the superpower would deploy its troops there.

"There are lots of strange stories. We have no intentions in the Malacca Straits. The Malacca Strait is an international strait with a lot of Singapore, a lot of Indonesia and a lot of Malaysia in it. Indonesia and Malaysia are capable of safeguarding this strait," James A. Kelly, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, said in Jakarta.

Indonesia and Malaysia said on Friday there was no terrorist threat to ships passing through the strait and they did not need any help from outside in safeguarding it. Singapore and the U.S. had earlier expressed concern the international waterway might be vulnerable to terror strikes and said outside help would be needed to face the problem.

Kelly said while there had not yet been any terrorist attacks in the strait, it was still possible terrorists would strike at this vital route between East Asia and the West.

"LNG (liquefied natural gas) tankers pass through this strait. Luckily, we've never had any explosion on any LNG tanker. Can you imagine what would happen if terrorists attacked a LNG tanker?" Kelly said.

Kelly reiterated the U.S. had no plan to send its troops to the strait without prior discussions with the concerned countries.

"It's not a unilateral approach but a multilateral one," he said.

Kelly, in Indonesia to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) senior officials meeting in Yogyakarta from May 11 to May 12, met Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda and other officials on Monday ahead of his trip to Yogyakarta.

On the Iraqi prisoner issue, Kelly said the torture of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers was unfortunate and hurting the United States' image in the world.

Kelly said the abuse was not discussed during his talks with Hassan.

However, Reuters reported Hassan had urged the United States on Monday to take action against troops accused of abusing prisoners in Iraq.

"We strongly deplore acts such as (the torture). We hope the U.S. government takes action as they have promised to give no legal immunity to the perpetrators of those cruel acts," Hassan said after his meeting with Kelly on Monday.

Meanwhile, speaking about the prospect of talks between the U.S and North Korea, Kelly said Indonesia had played a helpful role in trying to resolve the North Korean nuclear stalemate.

"I appreciated very much minister Wirayuda's comments on that topic," Kelly said.

Though Indonesia is not a participant in the six-party talks aimed at resolving the nuclear crisis, it has long-maintained cordial relations with the reclusive communist North.

Hassan recently returned from a visit to Pyongyang, South Korea and China. North Korea is scheduled to attend the ARF ministerial meeting in Jakarta next month.