Singapore, US expand security ties during Bush visit

Singapore, US expand security ties during Bush visit

Agencies, Singapore/Canberra

Singapore and the United States agreed to formally step up their
defense and security ties during U.S. President George W. Bush's
visit to the Southeast Asian nation on Tuesday, officials said.

Bush and Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong agreed to
start talks on a "framework agreement for the promotion of a
strategic cooperation partnership in defense and security", the
governments said in a joint statement released after the leaders
met.

The statement said the agreement would expand upon the scope
of current bilateral cooperation in these areas.

It specifically named counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction, joint military exercises and
training, policy dialogs and defense technology as areas where
ties will be enhanced.

"Both leaders expressed the desire to see this framework
agreement implemented as soon as possible," the statement said.

Singapore is already one of the United States' closest allies
in Southeast Asia, and U.S. warships often stop off in the city-
state's famous port in one of the more high-profile signs of the
two nations' close defense ties.

The nations are also developing closer economic links, with a
bilateral free trade agreement signed this year due to take
effect in January.

"This visit builds upon the strong and multi-faceted U.S.-
Singapore partnership, which saw the signing of the U.S.-
Singapore Free Trade Agreement earlier this year, and on a
history of cooperation, congruent interests and shared
perspectives," the statement said.

Bush and Goh also endorsed a memorandum of understanding that
their governments recently signed to build ties in the fight
against health threats -- both natural and the potential use of
biological agents by terrorists.

A Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention Center will be set
up in Singapore to research and prevent communicable and non-
communicable diseases, as well as bioterrorism.

Bush arrived in Singapore on Tuesday afternoon from Thailand,
where he and Goh attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
annual leaders' summit.

Bush is on a whirlwind tour of Asia and Australia that began
in Tokyo on Oct. 17 and took him to the Philippines before the
summit in Bangkok.

He will leave for the Indonesia island of Bali early on
Wednesday, and then travel to Australia.

Meanwhile, Australian armed fighter jets with a license to
kill have begun patrols in the skies over Canberra as the city on
Tuesday began an unprecedented security operation for a visit by
President Bush.

Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 Hornets, with permission to
shoot down suspicious planes, will escort Bush's plane, Air Force
One, into Canberra on Wednesday night and patrol the usually
sleepy city's skies during the president's 20-hour visit.

It is only the second time armed air force jets have flown
operationally over Australia's mainland since World War II. The
first such operation was mounted last year as leaders of the 54
Commonwealth nations attended a summit on the northeast coast.

Australian Defense Force spokesman Brigadier Mike Hannan said
the fighter deployment would be complemented by a range of other
measures to ensure Bush's safety during his first visit to
Australia and guard against any Sept. 11-style attack.

The security operation is the tightest mounted in Australia,
which is being rewarded with a visit by Bush for sending troops
to the U.S.-led assault on Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks and to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq this year.