Littoral states along the Straits of Malacca must take appropriate actions within their respective territorial waters to ward off piracy and potential maritime terrorism, said Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Command Admiral Thomas Fargo today.

He said 'upon invitation' US would help provide the necessary training to the security forces of the states concerned but stressed that it had 'tremendous respect' for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries.

The commander said this at a round table discussion with the media at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Fargo said US became concerned with maritime security in view of past incidents such as the terrorist attack on its warship USS Cole in Yemen in Oct 2000.

He pointed out that in today's interdependent world, the security of navigation was crucial for the conduct of international trade.

Close cooperation

In view of this, he said all countries should cooperate and coordinate closely, especially in intelligence-sharing, capacity-building and infusion of technology to fight piracy and maritime terrorism.

According to him, the US was committed to "close consultation" with "allies and friends" in enhancing cooperation and coordination to safeguard maritime security.

Fargo also praised the Malaysian Armed Forces and police for their capabilities and effectiveness.

Despite the intermittent diplomatic rows, Malaysia and the US have close but low-profile defence and security cooperation for many years.

The commander said while Indonesia was 'resolute' in its fight against terrorism, Singapore also shared with Malaysia the same concern and fundamental objective to keep the regional sea-lanes of communication open and safe.

Misreported

Meanwhile, Fargo also reiterated that he was misreported by the media previously as saying that US planned to station marines and special forces personnel in the Straits of Malacca.

He purportedly made this statement during his testimony before the US House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee.This caused a heated controversy, with Malaysia and Indonesia strongly protesting the presence of US troops in this region. Singapore, however, was said to have supported the idea.

Even the People's Republic of China (PRC) official news agency Xinhua joined in the fray by publishing several critical articles about US' so-called 'plan' to deploy troops in the region.

Earlier, the commander met Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy-cum-Defence Minister Najib Abdul Razak. As Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Command (Pacom), Fargo is responsible to the US president and secretary of defense through the chairman, joint chiefs of staff and is the US military representative for collective defence arrangements in the Pacific.

Pacom is the largest of the unified commands and directs Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force operations across more than 100 million square miles covering the Pacific and Indian Ocean areas, whose potential flashpoint and hot-spots include the Korean Peninsula, Japan Sea, East China Sea, Taiwan Straits, South China Sea, Straits of Malacca as well as Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.

Major countries that are located within Pacom's geographical area of responsibility include China, Japan, India, Australia and Indonesia. The 100,000 or so US troops stationed in Japan and South Korea are also under the command of Pacom.

Other unified commands of the US armed forces include Central Command, European Command, Northern Command, Southern Command, Joint Forces Command, Space Command, Special Operations Command, Strategic Command and Transportation Command. While the first four unified commands are geographically-based, the last five are function-designed to be operative worldwide without geographical boundary.