Separatist violence threatens Southeast Asian stability: U.S.
Separatist violence threatens Southeast Asian stability: U.S.
KUALA LUMPUR (AP): The top U.S. military officer in Asia urged greater international cooperation on Thursday to check "lawlessness" by violent separatists in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Adm. Dennis C. Blair, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, said that insurgencies problems in the two nations did not pose a military threat to neighbors but still "was not good for the rule of law."
"There are areas of lawlessness in this part of the world which countries in the region and those of us outside, but who care for this part of the world, should cooperate to eliminate," Blair told a news conference at the end of a three-day visit.
Blair noted that violence by extremist Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines had spread beyond national borders, with fighters of the Abu Sayyaf group twice crossing into Malaysian territorial waters last year and seizing Malaysians and foreign tourists hostage.
Blair said that the United States was working with the Philippines to built counter-terrorism capabilities - the country has been wracked by the southern insurgency and a wave of mysterious bombings in Manila - as well as carrying out more traditional joint military exercises.
The U.S. Army has been cooperating with the Indonesian armed forces to push forward reforms, Blair said. He did not specify what they were.
Indonesia has been beset by separatist and sectarian violence in several provinces and the army has been accused of variously of taking sides and carrying out human-rights violations to suppress its foes.
Blair cited narcotics trafficking in the region as a growing problem that needed a multilateral approach. Southeast Asia is a major producer of opium and heroin and a key waystation on international smuggling routes.
"Countries in the region and those who cooperate with them should work against that," Blair said.
On Thursday, Blair held talks with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, foreign and defense officials.
Blair said the visit had enabled both sides to update each other on issues such as narcotics, piracy and the spread of weapons.
Malaysian defense officials said the discussions had also focussed on increasing joint military exercises between both countries.
Blair said that the United States would continue to respond to any request for assistance to check piracy in the Straits of Malacca. But most incidents were sea robberies and not ship hijacking and took place mainly in territorial waters, he said.
The International Maritime Bureau, which monitors piracy attacks, said in a study last year that political and economic turmoil in Indonesia has made the Straits of Malacca, between Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, and surrounding waters more risky than ever for ships.