Malaysia has rejected military help from the United States to flush out terrorists in the Straits of Malacca, one of the busiest waterways in the world.

"In principle ensuring security in the Straits of Malacca is the responsibility of Malaysia and Indonesia and for the present we do not propose to invite the United States to join the security operations we have mounted there," Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Najib Razak was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

The top US military commander in the Asia-Pacific region, Admiral Thomas Fargo said that the US planned to deploy US forces along the narrow straits straddling Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia as part of Washington's new counterterrorism initiative to help Southeast Asia.

The region was a "crucial front" in the US war on terrorism, said Fargo.

"Even if they wished to act they should get our permission as this touches on the question of our national sovereignty," Najib said.

"They can use the waterway for their ships including warships but to launch operations they should have the concurrence of Malaysia and Indonesia," Najib said.

Pirate-infested region

The Regional Maritime Security Initiative is being devised by the US military to combat transnational threats like proliferation, terrorism, trafficking in humans and drugs, and piracy.

Fargo, who heads the Hawaii-based US Pacific Command, directing Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force operations across the vast region, had said he expected a "broad range of support" for the initiative from Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia where hundreds of American troops are stationed - to train local soldiers to battle terrorists in the country's troubled south.

Southeast Asian waters, particularly in the Straits of Malacca near the Indonesian side, are the world's most pirate-infested region. More than a quarter of the world's trade and oil transits the straits.

Southeast Asia is also home to the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah terror network accused of deadly bomb attacks in Indonesia and the Philippines.

There are numerous other groups in the region that have been branded terrorists by the United States and local governments, including the Abu Sayyaf Muslim kidnap-for-ransom group in the southern Philippines.

Malaysia is already holding some 80 terror suspects, many of whom are allegedly members of JI, under its harsh Internal Security Act (ISA) which allows for detention without trial. - AFP