Indonesia, Malaysia Resist U.S. Plan to Guard Strait

Indonesia and Malaysia oppose a U.S. plan to deploy U.S. Marines to guard the Strait of Malacca against terrorist attacks, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, April 2).

The Regional Maritime Security Initiative was disclosed last week during congressional testimony by U.S. Pacific Command head Adm. Thomas Fargo, the Times reported. Fargo said that he expected “a broad range of support” for the effort from Southeast Asia because “all the countries are concerned about the transnational threat.”

While Fargo told Congress that Singapore supports the plan, both Indonesia and Malaysia have come out against it, according to the Times.

“The security of the Malacca Strait is for Indonesia and Malaysia to shoulder. Therefore, we will not accept any policies or any steps that are inconsistent with that reality,” Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said (Burton/Donnan, Financial Times, April 6).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.