U.S. military action in SE Asia unlikely: Envoy

U.S. military action in SE Asia unlikely: Envoy

Regan Morris, Associated Press, Singapore

United States military action in Southeast Asia - a region
officials say has links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist
network - is unlikely, the U.S. ambassador to Singapore said on
Thursday.

Ambassador Frank Lavin told The Associated Press that any U.S.
action in Southeast Asia to curtail terrorism would likely
involve moves such as coordinating to fight money laundering, not
direct military strikes.

U.S. officials in Washington, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said on Wednesday that the Al-Qaeda network has been
bolstering Islamic insurgencies in Indonesia, the Philippines and
Malaysia, and that Southeast Asia has become a major operational
hub for the terrorist network.

Lavin said the United States would work with governments in
Southeast Asia if any anti-terrorist action was needed in the
region.

Most countries in Southeast Asia have condemned the Sept. 11
attacks in the United States, when hijackers crashed four
passenger planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon rural
Pennsylvania.

But some people in the region have staged anti-American
protests since the Sept. 11 attacks, with many saying the United
States unfairly blamed Muslims for the attacks.

Thousands of people across Indonesia, the world's most
populous Muslim nation, have staged rowdy protests, burning U.S.
flags and effigies of U.S. president George W. Bush amid calls
for a holy war on the United States.

Ambassador Lavin said the demonstrations and political
instability would stymie U.S. investment flows into the region.

"The political turmoil undercuts investment. It diminishes
investors' appetite and increases the perception of risk," he
said.

Lavin said the political turbulence, coupled with the current
downturns in the U.S. and Southeast Asian economies, does not
augur well for the region.

Singapore - widely viewed as Southeast Asia's most developed
and stable country - is trying to weather its recession by
promoting itself as "the best shop in the commercial district,"
Lavin said.

He added, however, that Southeast Asian economies are
intertwined and that Singapore has little to gain from
instability in neighboring countries.

"If you're the best shop only because the other shops are
closed down, then that doesn't really help you," he said.

More stability would help everyone in the region, Lavin said,
adding that U.S. businesses were committed to Southeast Asia.