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.