Recent travel advisories warning Westerners they risk terror attacks in Southeast Asia may have a severe impact on the fragile economies of the region, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Abar said Monday.

"In the first place, the travel warning is not necessary. If you want to discourage the development of countries, this is the best way of punishing the countries.

"They would not be able to grow, their trade and investments will suffer. Tourism, which is a very big source of income, will also suffer," Syed Hamid said in a CNN television interview.

Australia, the United States and other Western countries have warned their citizens of the dangers of travel to Southeast Asia after the Oct 12 Bali bombing in Indonesia.

A US State Department warning last week specifically mentioned Malaysia as a country where Westerners could be at risk of attack by the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist network, blamed for the Bali bombing.

The warning caused outrage here, with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad rapping the United States for disregarding Malaysia's cooperation in the war on terrorism.

Wake up call

Syed Hamid said Malaysia had acted quickly in dealing with militant groups in the country.

"I think in terms of Malaysia, we are able to make use of intelligence and act quickly. You cannot wait for the incident to happen," he said.

Malaysia has detained more than 70 Islamic militants suspected of links to JI since the middle of last year.

Syed Hamid described the Bali bombing as a "wake-up call" for the region to enhance cooperation and to act quickly.

"I think Bali is a wake-up call. Everyone sees the importance of cooperation and the importance of acting quickly," he said.

Syed Hamid said many Muslims feel the world is slow to react when they are the victims of injustices.

"The world tends to be slow in solving the Muslims' issues or when injustices happen to them. But to apportion blame on Muslims, it does so in speed," he said.

Syed Hamid said the root causes of terrorism must be addressed, whereas reacting to violence with violence "would encourage terrorists to commit further damage on countries especially those of the West."

"The US must not impose. The US must show it understands and cares for the problems of the world," he said. AFP