RP fears Moro may follow Aceh

RP fears Moro may follow Aceh

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines has become the first of Indonesia's Southeast Asian neighbors to publicly raise the specter of the region being destabilized by a breakup of its biggest country.

Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon warned on Thursday that a move by the strongly Muslim province of Aceh to break away from Indonesia could represent a threat to the security of the Philippines, which is battling an Islamic separatist movement in the southern island Mindanao.

He added Manila wanted to see a central Indonesian government that was "as stable and strong as possible".

Siazon's comments reflected fears felt across Southeast Asia, although traditional Asian sensitivity about "interference", in neighbors domestic problems has meant they have been hardly raised so far.