RI's problems to affect SE Asia

RI's problems to affect SE Asia

SINGAPORE (AFP): Political unrest in Indonesia will have a
major security impact on Southeast Asia, Singapore Deputy Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong predicted at the weekend.

Lee said in a speech late on Saturday that while Singapore's
economy had recovered from the financial crisis that struck the
region in 1997, it was still facing challenges.

"One cause for worry is developments in Indonesia," he said,
citing Jakarta's battle against separatist rebels and the need to
restore order in the Maluku islands wracked by a bloody Muslim-
Christian conflict.

Indonesia's neighbors have been closely watching how Jakarta
is dealing with the separatist rebellions in the provinces of
Irian Jaya and Aceh as well as the sectarian strife in the fabled
Spice Islands -- now known as the Malukus -- because of its
regional security implications.

ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino said at an Asian
security forum last month in the Thai capital Bangkok that ASEAN
should take the political events in Indonesia "seriously".