U.S. admiral warns Asian terror war far from over

U.S. admiral warns Asian terror war far from over

Agencies, Singapore

The commander-in-chief of U.S. forces in the Pacific said on
Tuesday international efforts would make Southeast Asia a barren
place for terror but warned it was too early to claim victory
over shadowy militant groups.

Admiral Dennis Blair also said Washington was looking for
specific ways to work with Indonesia but would not reverse a
policy restricting military cooperation until reforms of the
Muslim giant's security forces were more advanced.

A new arena in the war on terror has opened in Asia with the
recent arrests of dozens of suspected militants by Malaysia and
Singapore and the arrival of U.S. troops in the Philippines.

The three nations have linked the detained men to al-Qaeda,
the network of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden blamed for the
Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, and pointed to connections
with militant groups in Indonesia.

"The focus of our activities is to make sure that Asia is not
the last bastion of al-Qaeda but to make it as inhospitable for
terrorists to come here as possible," Blair told a news
conference after receiving a military honor in Singapore.

Blair was commenting after being asked about a report by the
respected Jane's Intelligence Review, that Southeast Asia could
become the last bastion for al-Qaeda following its decimation by
the U.S. in Afghanistan and other parts of the world.

Singapore, which backs the anti-terror campaign and the
bombing of Afghanistan, generally has strong ties with Washington
and hosts a U.S. logistics operation for visiting ships.

"No country is immune from this threat," Deputy Prime Minister
Tony Tan told the news conference, declining to comment on
whether Singapore had made any more arrests since the December
detentions of 13 people announced earlier this month.

Singapore remained vulnerable to a bomb attack even though
authorities smashed a terror cell linked to the al-Qaeda network
and foiled alleged attempts to attack American establishments,
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said on Tuesday.

The Internal Security Department in December arrested 13
terror suspects belonging to the clandestine Jemaah Islamiah
terror cell linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization but
other members managed to flee the country, said Goh.

"They may regroup outside Singapore, to plan how they might
continue their operations," Goh said in a dialog session with
community leaders representing the island's ethnically diverse
population.

Blair, in an earlier briefing with reporters, said aggressive
steps by the Asian countries were a solid step as governments
shared intelligence more fluidly since the U.S. attacks.

"I don't think any of us wants to overplay the threat but we
don't want to think we are completely on top of it," said the
Hawaii-based admiral, whose trip will also take in Malaysia's
Sabah region, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea.

"All of us recognize that none of us has a complete picture."

Meanwhile, Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to increase the
sharing of military intelligence to combat terrorism, Malaysian
Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak said.

This reflected a strong political commitment by both countries
toward curbing terror attacks, he told a joint news conference
with his visiting Indonesian counterpart Matori Abdul Djalil on
late Monday.

"There are some specific suggestions (on combating terrorism)
but it does not necessitate public announcement," he was quoted
as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Matori said efforts to combat terrorism effectively needed the
cooperation of all 10 members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia.

The exchange of military intelligence was necessary to ensure
anticipatory steps could be taken against possible threats of
terrorism.

"We welcome the efforts by both countries to cooperate and to
undertake appropriate and suitable measures in combating
international terrorism," he said.

Blair, who visited Indonesia recently, said his impressions of
the world's largest Muslim nation and its key issues were still
substantially correct.

"It has a big set of challenges and certainly has to be
worried about whether international terrorism is one more group
that might be working from Indonesia," he said.

U.S. officials accompanying Blair said he was well aware of
Congressional limits on contacts with Indonesia's military after
the army-led violence in East Timor, but saw the benefits of
cultivating better ties at a critical time.

"We have a relationship with Indonesia and are certainly
looking for opportunities to take specific action with Indonesia
on actions to combat terrorism which would involve taking down
terrorist groups," Blair said without elaborating.

"We could all be much more effective if we had a fuller
relationship which we do hope would be available as the
Indonesian armed forces make progress (with the reforms)."

Blair said he was not aware of reports from Jakarta that
Washington had offered millions of dollars of help for
Indonesia's anti-terror efforts but pointed to existing
intelligence sharing and high-level military contacts at regional
forums.

"There's certainly nothing on the scale of what we're working
with in the Philippines planned for the near future," he said.

Blair said the six-month term of U.S. forces advising
Philippine troops in their campaign against Moro separatists
would be evaluated as the exercises continue.