- Joined
- Jan 23, 2010
- Messages
- 1,746
- Points
- 0
World safer but continued vigilance needed, says PM Lee
http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20110503/ST_IMAGES_JEOSAMA03C.jpg
Pakistani soldiers seen near the house where Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad. The challenge of Pakistan as a terror breeding ground will remain after his death, and the fact he lived there apparently unhindered will complicate US dealings with Pakistani officials. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
View more photos
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday that the death of Osama bin Laden has made the world a bit safer, but counselled continued vigilance, given that Al-Qaeda and its franchises were still active globally and in the region.
'It's a backdrop to our election,' he said of the news that a United States military operation had killed the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks on America.
He added: 'It's a reminder to us that, while we engage in all this introspection and political battles here, it's a world where there are threats which are bigger than us and which we must not take our eyes off.'
He was addressing reporters at a press conference held at the People's Action Party headquarters to mark the midway point of Singapore's 11th General Election since independence in 1965.
He cited three recent terrorist plots or attacks in neighbouring countries to drive home the point that the world was still a 'pretty dangerous' place. These took place on:
April 13, when six grenades were seized in Kuala Lumpur during a police raid on a budget hotel. Investigations into suspected terror links are still on.
April 15, when a suicide bomber with possible links to terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah blew himself up and injured about 30 others in a West Java mosque.
April 22, when Indonesian police foiled a Good Friday terrorist attack on a church west of Jakarta, and later arrested 20 suspects, said to be from a self-funded, self-radicalised terrorist group.
Mr Lee noted that these three incidents happened within a few hundred kilometres of Singapore, 'so I think we are safe in Singapore, but we must take up precautions'.
He further noted that Singapore has been a target for terrorists before.
'From time to time, they look at Singapore, and we have seen that they've got MRT maps marked out as targets of interest,' he said.
It was a reference to May last year, when Indonesian officials found on a slain terror suspect maps on which Orchard MRT station was circled as a target.
Asked if Singapore could be in danger of retaliatory attacks by terrorist groups angered by Osama's killing, Mr Lee said such attacks were possible:
'I have no specific intelligence, but it could happen. I'm sure the terrorist groups cannot be pleased that Osama bin Laden is not just dead, but killed by the Americans; they'll be thinking what they can do.
'Whether they have the capabilities to mount an attack, well, we'll have to see. But we're not taking any chances.'
At the press conference yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, reiterated that there was no room for complacency and called on the public to report to the police suspicious people or objects.
He said: 'We don't want to live in a climate of fear all the time over our sense of safety but, at the same time, we must be conscious and fully aware of the threat we can face.'
Speaking separately at a community event in Serangoon Gardens, Foreign Minister George Yeo called Osama's death 'an important victory in the war against terrorism'.
'An important threat has been removed... but the terror network still exists. And there's a local network here in South-east Asia which we have to continue worrying about,' he added.
A statement issued by his ministry yesterday said 'terrorism and the ideologies that perpetuate it pose complex and long-term challenges' and that dealing with it will require continued vigilance and cooperation by all countries.
Additional reporting by Cassandra Chew
http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20110503/ST_IMAGES_JEOSAMA03C.jpg
Pakistani soldiers seen near the house where Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad. The challenge of Pakistan as a terror breeding ground will remain after his death, and the fact he lived there apparently unhindered will complicate US dealings with Pakistani officials. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
View more photos
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday that the death of Osama bin Laden has made the world a bit safer, but counselled continued vigilance, given that Al-Qaeda and its franchises were still active globally and in the region.
'It's a backdrop to our election,' he said of the news that a United States military operation had killed the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks on America.
He added: 'It's a reminder to us that, while we engage in all this introspection and political battles here, it's a world where there are threats which are bigger than us and which we must not take our eyes off.'
He was addressing reporters at a press conference held at the People's Action Party headquarters to mark the midway point of Singapore's 11th General Election since independence in 1965.
He cited three recent terrorist plots or attacks in neighbouring countries to drive home the point that the world was still a 'pretty dangerous' place. These took place on:
April 13, when six grenades were seized in Kuala Lumpur during a police raid on a budget hotel. Investigations into suspected terror links are still on.
April 15, when a suicide bomber with possible links to terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah blew himself up and injured about 30 others in a West Java mosque.
April 22, when Indonesian police foiled a Good Friday terrorist attack on a church west of Jakarta, and later arrested 20 suspects, said to be from a self-funded, self-radicalised terrorist group.
Mr Lee noted that these three incidents happened within a few hundred kilometres of Singapore, 'so I think we are safe in Singapore, but we must take up precautions'.
He further noted that Singapore has been a target for terrorists before.
'From time to time, they look at Singapore, and we have seen that they've got MRT maps marked out as targets of interest,' he said.
It was a reference to May last year, when Indonesian officials found on a slain terror suspect maps on which Orchard MRT station was circled as a target.
Asked if Singapore could be in danger of retaliatory attacks by terrorist groups angered by Osama's killing, Mr Lee said such attacks were possible:
'I have no specific intelligence, but it could happen. I'm sure the terrorist groups cannot be pleased that Osama bin Laden is not just dead, but killed by the Americans; they'll be thinking what they can do.
'Whether they have the capabilities to mount an attack, well, we'll have to see. But we're not taking any chances.'
At the press conference yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, reiterated that there was no room for complacency and called on the public to report to the police suspicious people or objects.
He said: 'We don't want to live in a climate of fear all the time over our sense of safety but, at the same time, we must be conscious and fully aware of the threat we can face.'
Speaking separately at a community event in Serangoon Gardens, Foreign Minister George Yeo called Osama's death 'an important victory in the war against terrorism'.
'An important threat has been removed... but the terror network still exists. And there's a local network here in South-east Asia which we have to continue worrying about,' he added.
A statement issued by his ministry yesterday said 'terrorism and the ideologies that perpetuate it pose complex and long-term challenges' and that dealing with it will require continued vigilance and cooperation by all countries.
Additional reporting by Cassandra Chew
