Malaysia today condemned the Bali bombing which killed nearly 200 people in neighbouring Indonesia as "despicable".

"Whatever the aim is, acts of terror are despicable," Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told the official Bernama news agency.

"We do not want to see incidents of terror in the region, and we regret what has happened."

Negative reflection

Such acts would reflect negatively on Southeast Asian countries, although they were not involved in terrorism, Bernama quoted Abdullah as saying.

Mainly Muslim Malaysia has supported the US-led war on terrorism since the September 11 attacks last year, but says travel restrictions imposed on its citizens by the United States show that it is a victim of "anti-Muslim hysteria". AFP