Singapore raises alert on warning of attacks
Source: Agencies |
March 6, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SINGAPORE raised alert levels yesterday in the Asian financial center and beefed up security at its airport and new casinos after a warning by its navy of possible attacks on oil tankers in a key shipping lane.
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have already stepped up sea patrols in the Strait of Malacca after Singapore's navy said on Thursday it had received indications a terror group is planning attacks on oil tankers.
"We should not be in denial. The threat is real and we are not immune from it ... we must recognize that no security system can be completely foolproof," Singapore's Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng told parliament.
"We received intelligence from our liaison partners about this possible plot to go and attack vessels coming through Singapore waters via the Strait of Malacca," Wong said in the Singapore government's first comments on the threat.
He said Singapore had hardened security, including at new casino resorts owned by Genting Singapore and Las Vegas Sands, which the government hopes will significantly boost tourism.
Any attack could have a disproportionate effect on the global economy as well as on Singapore because the nearby and narrow Malacca waterway carries about 40 percent of world trade.
Singapore is home to the world's top container shipping port and is favored by many multinationals as a base, from Citigroup to GlaxoSmithKline and ExxonMobil.
Wong did not give any indication of who the threat was from but militants have long had Singapore in their sights.
"So long as radicalization and self-radicalization of individuals continues to occur, terror groups remain capable of recouping their losses with new recruits," he said, adding the recent capture or death of militant leaders in Indonesia had not discouraged recruits from terror acts.
A security source briefed by Singaporean authorities said Indonesians were not involved but added the authorities had not indicated the nationalities of those who were.
The source, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information, declined to rule out Jemaah Islamiah, a regional al Qaeda-linked militant Islamist group with mostly Indonesian members. Some of its members have been Malaysians and Singaporeans. JI has been responsible for deadly attacks in Jakarta and Bali.
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have already stepped up sea patrols in the Strait of Malacca after Singapore's navy said on Thursday it had received indications a terror group is planning attacks on oil tankers.
"We should not be in denial. The threat is real and we are not immune from it ... we must recognize that no security system can be completely foolproof," Singapore's Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng told parliament.
"We received intelligence from our liaison partners about this possible plot to go and attack vessels coming through Singapore waters via the Strait of Malacca," Wong said in the Singapore government's first comments on the threat.
He said Singapore had hardened security, including at new casino resorts owned by Genting Singapore and Las Vegas Sands, which the government hopes will significantly boost tourism.
Any attack could have a disproportionate effect on the global economy as well as on Singapore because the nearby and narrow Malacca waterway carries about 40 percent of world trade.
Singapore is home to the world's top container shipping port and is favored by many multinationals as a base, from Citigroup to GlaxoSmithKline and ExxonMobil.
Wong did not give any indication of who the threat was from but militants have long had Singapore in their sights.
"So long as radicalization and self-radicalization of individuals continues to occur, terror groups remain capable of recouping their losses with new recruits," he said, adding the recent capture or death of militant leaders in Indonesia had not discouraged recruits from terror acts.
A security source briefed by Singaporean authorities said Indonesians were not involved but added the authorities had not indicated the nationalities of those who were.
The source, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information, declined to rule out Jemaah Islamiah, a regional al Qaeda-linked militant Islamist group with mostly Indonesian members. Some of its members have been Malaysians and Singaporeans. JI has been responsible for deadly attacks in Jakarta and Bali.
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