The recent security assessment by a key United States military official on Sabah should be a basis for the US State Department to lift its travel advisory, said Defence Minister Najib Razak today.

"We feel vindicated, for whatever we have said or done has been correctly assessed by someone who is very experienced and higher up in the (US) military who knows how to assess a given situation," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

On Tuesday, visiting US Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Command, Admiral Thomas Fargo said he was impressed with the security deployment on Sabah's east coast waters bordering the southern Philippines and described it as "excellent by any standard".

Commenting on this, the minister said this was "not an assessment that is biased but one that is objective because it is coming from somebody who is not a member of our own government or armed forces."

"We hope that the parties issuing the travel advisory will use the assessment by Fargo as a basis to retract their advisory," he added.

No basis

The admiral was in Sabah for three days since Monday, where he observed a security operations in the waters of Semporna that borders the conflict-ridden Southern Philippines.

According to the national news agency, he was briefed on the security deployment and also on actions and measures taken to ensure Sabah's east coast waters were secured.

Meanwhile, Najib said the military leader also visited several islands frequented by tourists.

"By coincidence, he met American tourists who told him that they did not feel intimidated at all in terms of security while in Sabah," the minister added.

Najib stressed that there was actually no basis for countries to issue travel advisories against Sabah or any other places in Malaysia.

He said besides sea and air patrol and deployment of troops, the security forces also had intelligence-sharing and conduct joint-border patrol with their counterparts in the Philippines.

He added that eight designated lanes have been specified for passenger and merchant ships entering Sabah from neighbouring countries.

Cautionary reminder

On May 14, the US State Department issued an advisory warning its citizens against visiting Malaysia, especially Sabah due to the 'persistent threat' from the separatist Abu Sayyaf

Following this, US embassy spokesperson Frank Whitaker downplayed the warning, saying that it was a merely a cautionary reminder.

He told malaysiakini that the specific reference to Sabah was made largely to remind potential American tourists of an incident in Sipadan three years ago, when a group of tourists were kidnapped for ransom by the Abu Sayyaf.

"The travel warning goes all the way back to the Sipadan kidnappings. In any case, it has more to do with the Abu Sayyaf than Malaysia," he said.