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Malaysia warns Australia over pre-emptive strike threat
Malaysia warned Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Monday that it rejected his threat to launch pre-emptive strikes in the region to stop terrorist attacks. "We won't allow any pre-emptive strike when it comes to our national territory," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters. "They have to respect our sovereignty."
The proposals, which come shortly after the bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta, also envisage funding for full-time bomb data centres in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, along with a regional intelligence secretariat. Najib, who is also Malaysia's defence minister, said Kuala Lumpur had not been approached over the plan. "Malaysia has not been approached and we think we have the capability to deal with any threat of terrorism," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency. Howard first threatened to launch pre-emptive strikes two years ago after 88 Australians were killed in a bomb attack on two nightclubs on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, provoking a storm of protest in the region. Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who accused Australia of acting as the United States' "deputy sherriff", led widespread condemnation of the idea and warned Howard that Malaysia would forcefully protect its sovereignty. Mahathir retired last year and relations between the two countries have improved markedly under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Australian experts recently lectured at the Kuala Lumpur-based Southeast Asia counter-terrorism centre. Najib made it clear, however, that the idea of pre-emptive strikes remains repugnant to Malaysia's new administration. |
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