Southeast Asia goes on alert as hunt widens for suspected Bali

Southeast Asia goes on alert as hunt widens for suspected Bali bombers

Sutin Wannabovorn Associated Press/Bangkok

Thailand stepped up security at tourist resorts and warned on Monday that terrorists like those who carried out the Bali bombings use a network of contacts to move undetected around Southeast Asia.

Malaysia boosted defenses at embassies and border posts, and joined the Philippines in saying its authorities would intensify intelligence gathering about militant networks.

Officials have ramped up security across Southeast Asia following Saturday's Bali bombings as suspicion fell on Jamaah Islamiyah, a shadowy al-Qaeda-linked group that operated in several countries before a regional crackdown starting in 2001.

Officials warned the bombers may use a network of supporters in the region to evade authorities.

"These people (terrorists) are commuting and rotating around in the region," Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters on Monday.

"These people have been moving among these countries for generations. They have close connections and links. Their linkages come from relatives, friends and they used to go the same schools," he said.

Citing information "that causes us to be very cautious and call a full alert," Thaksin said extra plainclothes officers would be deployed at major tourist spots such as Phuket island.

Police Gen. Jumpol Manmai, Thailand's intelligence chief, said there was "no fresh threat or information about a planned terrorist attack in Thailand but we have to be alert because of the linkages of these groups."

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer of Australia, whose citizens were among the dead in Bali, warned that Saturday's blasts should not lead to complacency that further attacks wouldn't come soon.

"It is possible there could be further bombings," Downer told the Nine television network. "People shouldn't think because those bombings took place there now won't be any bombings for another year or so, or two years. We don't know. And the risk is always there and the risk is significant."

A massive investigation involving Indonesian and Australian police is pursuing two Malaysians as the alleged masterminds of the Bali attacks, which killed at least 22 people and injured more than 100.

The fugitives -- Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top -- are allegedly key figures in Jamaah Islamiyah who officials accuse of orchestrating bombings that killed 202 people in Bali three years ago, and two deadly blasts in Jakarta in the past two years.

In Malaysia, border security was tightened to prevent the two terrorist suspects from trying to return to their home country and patrols around embassies and tourist attractions were increased.

"All activity at the border areas is being watched closely," a security official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. "Intelligence gathering is also beefed up to ensure Azahari and Noordin do not slip through our security net."

In the Philippines, the 115,000-strong police force has been placed on "heightened alert," requiring at least half of the force to be on standby in camps.

Intelligence gathering would be intensified and security in resorts frequented by foreigners would be further strengthened, said police Director General Arturo Lomibao.

Meanwhile, senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Monday condemned the Bali blasts and said its 10 members would work to "eradicate the threat of terror in the region and beyond."