Friday, June 11, 2004
U.S. forces not wanted
Source: AP, Reuters - 06/07/04
Speaking on the final day of a three-day conference on Asian security, Najib said his country would not allow American "troops or assets" to set foot in the Strait of Malacca - a narrow 900-kilometer, or 550-mile, waterway straddling Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore that handles a third of the world's trade and more than half its oil.
[..]
"However, what we should avoid is the presence of foreign forces in Southeast Asia to help us deal with this threat," he said, "not because we distrust those outside the region, but because foreign military presence will set us back in our ideological battle against extremism and militancy."
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