Travel warnings may hurt economies: Malaysia

Travel warnings may hurt economies: Malaysia

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur/Canberra

Recent travel advisories warning Westerners they risk terror attacks in Southeast Asia may have a severe impact on the fragile economies of the region, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Monday.

"In the first place, the travel warning is not necessary. If you want to discourage the development of countries, this is the best way of punishing the countries.

"They would not be able to grow, their trade and investments will suffer. Tourism, which is a very big source of income, will also suffer," Syed Hamid said in a CNN television interview.

Australia, the United States and other Western countries have warned their citizens of the dangers of travel to Southeast Asia after the Oct. 12 Bali bombing in Indonesia.

A U.S. State Department warning last week specifically mentioned Malaysia as a country where Westerners could be at risk of attack by the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network, blamed for the Bali bombing.

The warning caused outrage here, with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad rapping the United States for disregarding Malaysia's cooperation in the war on terrorism.

Syed Hamid said Malaysia had acted quickly in dealing with militant groups in the country.

"I think in terms of Malaysia, we are able to make use of intelligence and act quickly. You cannot wait for the incident to happen," he said.

Malaysia has detained more than 70 religious militants suspected of links to JI since the middle of last year.

Syed Hamid described the Bali bombing as a "wake-up call" for the region to enhance cooperation and to act quickly.

"I think Bali is a wake-up call. Everyone sees the importance of cooperation and the importance of acting quickly," he said.

Syed Hamid said many Muslims feel the world is slow to react when they are the victims of injustices.

"The world tends to be slow in solving the Muslims' issues or when injustices happen to them. But to apportion blame on Muslims, it does so in speed," he said.

Syed Hamid said the root causes of terrorism must be addressed, whereas reacting to violence with violence "would encourage terrorists to commit further damage on countries especially those of the West."

"The U.S. must not impose. The U.S. must show it understands and cares for the problems of the world," he said.

In a separate development in Canberra, a senior Australian opposition legislator hit back on Monday at Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for criticizing Australia's travel warnings and support of the United States.

"I think frankly it's time the prime minister of Malaysia took a running jump," Labor Party's spokesman on foreign affairs, Kevin Rudd, told Seven Network television.

In an interview with The Australian newspaper published on Saturday, Mahathir said Australia was more belligerent than European nations and had gone too far in identifying with the United States' aims and tactics in the war against terrorism.

Mahathir was particularly critical of Canberra's warnings to Australians to be wary of traveling in Malaysia, a mostly Muslim country.

Rudd said Mahathir had to understand that almost 90 Australians were killed in the Oct. 12 bomb attacks on the Indonesian island of Bali.

He said Australians should not sit back and say nothing when Mahathir makes a criticism that "is just plain wrong."

Asked about Mahathir's and Rudd's comments, Federal Tourism Minister Joe Hockey said that as a member of the government, he had to be more diplomatic, but added: "I understand where Kevin's coming from."

Mahathir also criticized the United States, saying it was not making progress in its war on terrorism. He said the world had been united against terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks, but Washington had since alienated many Muslim nations, who felt it was not fighting "a campaign against terrorists, but against Muslim terrorists."