SE Asian leaders denounce attacks

SE Asian leaders denounce attacks

BANGKOK (Agencies): Southeast Asian leaders on Wednesday joined in a chorus of international condemnation of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon in Washington, D.C., while beefing up security at U.S. embassies and other installations in their capitals.

Security was stepped up at all American facilities in the Philippines on Wednesday, while the government expressed "shock and horror" over the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Similar security precautions were taken at U.S. embassies in Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh, to protect against a possible spread of anti-U.S. terrorist activities in the region.

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she had ordered the armed forces and the police to "go on a heightened state of alert to secure all vital installations, utilities and infrastructure".

"Nothing can describe the shock and horror of all humanity in the face of the unimaginable acts of terror inflicted on the U.S.," Arroyo said in a letter to President George W. Bush.

The Philippines' largest Moro separatist rebel group, which has been linked to Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, a main suspect in the attacks, condemned the assault.

"This act of terrorism is highly condemnable and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) condemns whoever is behind these cowardly acts," said MILF regional commander Shariff Julabbi.

In a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who leads the world's largest Muslim nation, said she was shocked at the "barbaric" attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

"The government of Indonesia condemns these indiscriminate attacks that resulted in a great number of innocent people losing their lives and being wounded," Megawati said in the letter, which was released to journalists on Wednesday morning.

In Bangkok, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai sent a statement to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, saying, "Thailand strongly condemns these acts of terrorism."

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the attacks, and added, "The Thai people also share my view that these terrorist acts are to be condemned in the strongest terms."

Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, in a condolence letter to Bush, said he was "shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of lives by the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington."

"We join you and others in strongly condemning these acts of terrorism," said Goh, who is currently on leave in Perth, Australia.

Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk joined in the condemnation of the terrorist attacks on U.S. financial and defense centers and offered his condolences to the American people.

"On behalf of the Cambodian people, parliamentarians, the Cambodian government, my Cambodian royal family and myself," the king wrote in a letter to U.S. President Bush.

"I express my condolences to your Excellency and the great American people, the families of the innocent people in the horrible and unjustifiable murder attempt by terrorists," he said.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called for a coordinated global response to the series of terrorist attacks.

The Cambodian premier condemned the attacks and asked governments around the world to renew their campaign against terrorism, the premier said.

"I appeal to all governments of other countries in the world to increase cooperation in order to protect against and crack down on terrorists everywhere so that there will be no more new attacks anywhere in the world," he said.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad cancelled a trip to Britain late Tuesday, following the terrorist attacks on U.S. landmarks in New York and Washington.

Hundreds of Southeast Asian nationals, including Filipinos, Thais and Malaysians, were employed at the World Trade Center in New York, although casualties remained largely unknown.

The Thai government has announced that of the 17 Thais employed at the New York building, so far only two had sustained minor injuries.

People on the streets of Chinese cities reacted with shock Wednesday to the terror attacks which struck New York and Washington, but some argued the U.S. was reaping the returns of its own foreign policies.