SE Asia faces rising threat from seaborne terrorists
SE Asia faces rising threat from seaborne terrorists
Associated Press, Singapore
Southeast Asia faces a rising threat from terrorist attacks on
cruise ships, cargo vessels and seaports, an expert said Thursday
on the sidelines of an international security conference in
Singapore.
The biggest worry in Southeast Asia is the southern
Philippines' separatist Abu Sayyaf group, said Col. Tim Spicer,
chief executive officer of the London-based security consulting
firm Trident.
The Abu Sayyaf is a serious concern because of its "proven
links" to al-Qaeda, a group suspected of masterminding the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Spicer said.
Abu Sayyaf rebels have already carried out bold seaborne raids
on resorts, kidnapping tourists from islands in Malaysia and the
Philippines.
Sri Lanka's rebel Tamil Tigers pose another emerging threat,
Spicer said.
The Tamil Tigers have developed some "very sophisticated
terrorist capabilities" such as "stealth boats," mini-submarines,
sea mines and "underwater scooters" that divers could use in
suicide attacks, Spicer said.
The Tamil Tigers are also "trying to develop an air
capability," possibly using two-seater microlight aircraft packed
with explosives, Spicer said.
The group, also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
or LTTE, have been fighting to carve out an ethnic Tamil homeland
in part of Sri Lanka for 18 years.
Spicer said there was evidence that such groups were stepping
up plans for maritime attacks in the region.
"Realistic scenarios are a suicide attack against a high-value
target like a passenger ship, which would certainly have the
horror and scope and attract the reporting, which is after all
what terrorists crave," he said.
Other possible maritime terrorism scenarios include groups
taking control of a ship and running it into a harbor "with some
sort of explosive or toxic result," or deliberately sinking an
oil or chemical tanker, Spicer said.
"In the same way you turn an airliner into a sort of cruise
missile, you might be able to turn a carrier of toxic chemicals
into a chemical weapon," he said.
"There is a vast array of potential targets" in Southeast Asia
because of its labyrinth of vital sea lanes, Spicer said.