U.S. mends fences with Malaysia over Malacca

U.S. mends fences with Malaysia over Malacca

M. Jegathesan, Agence France-Presse/Putrajaya

Malaysia and the United States mended fences on Monday after an
angry dispute over protecting international shipping against
terrorist attacks in the vital Malacca Straits.

The visiting commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Admiral
Thomas Fargo, ironed out the differences between the two
countries in hour-long talks with Malaysian Defense Minister
Najib Razak, Najib indicated at a news conference.

Malaysia reacted strongly to recent reports that Washington
was considering deploying marines in the straits to counter
terrorist threats in the narrow waterway, which carries a third
of world trade, saying this would infringe on its sovereignty.

"Admiral Fargo wanted to clarify the misreport in the
newspapers," Najib, who is also deputy prime minister, told
reporters.

Fargo assured him that such intervention "has never been the
intention of the U.S.", and that Washington respected Malaysia's
sovereignty and territorial integrity, Najib said.

Fargo's visit to Malaysia was the second attempt by a top U.S.
official in less than a month to limit the fallout from the
report, following Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's comments on
the issue during a trip to Singapore.

Malaysia, a mainly Muslim state, angrily dismissed the idea,
saying U.S. forces in the area would attract terrorism rather
than repel attacks.

Najib made it clear on Monday, however, that Malaysia was
prepared to cooperate in other ways with the United States over
concerns that terrorists could close the straits and cripple
world trade or use a fuel tanker as a floating bomb in a maritime
version of the airborne Sept. 11 attacks.

He said Kuala Lumpur was ready to agree to Fargo's request for
expanded cooperation in the exchange of intelligence and in
efforts to increase Malaysia's capacity to fight terrorism,
suggesting that this could involve joint exercises.

"There will not be any joint patrols but in the area of
capacity building we could have some form of bilateral exercise
which will increase our capacity to deal with problems of
maritime security," he said.

"We have to ensure the threat of piracy and even the
possibility of international terrorism is met in a lethal
manner."

Fargo, who met Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi earlier,
had "expressed his pleasure with the level of commitment Malaysia
has shown to fight terrorism," Najib said.

However, Najib also ruled out joint patrols with Indonesia and
Singapore, the other two states with coastlines on the straits.

"We cannot pursue joint patrols, only coordinated patrols," he
said in answer to a question, without elaborating.

His response contrasts to his own deputy and Singapore's
welcome Sunday for the joint patrols plan first put forward by
Indonesia.

On Friday Malaysian Deputy Defense Minister Zainal Abidin Zin
described the idea of joint patrols as "very good," but said it
needed further study to "ensure it makes a positive contribution
to the security of the straits."

Singapore on Sunday welcomed Indonesia's plan for joint naval
patrols in the Malacca Strait.

"We welcome the proposal from the Indonesian chief for greater
maritime cooperationfor the security of the Malacca and Singapore
Straits," Singapore Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean said.

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