A memo by the US Homeland Security Department, made public by Representative Edward Markey, indicated there was a connection between the immigrants and the airport attack plot. Allegations made by former White House advisor Richard Clarke also indicated such a connection existed.
Previously, federal, state and local authorities had denied any such connection but the memo, written by Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Pamela J. Turner, admitted to a possible connection between the stowaways on Algerian flagged LNG tankers and the so-called “Millennium Plot”, the name for the mooted attack on LA’s airport.
Doug Bailey, spokesperson for Distrigas (the company which owns the vessels, said, “We are working with authorities, and we maintain the highest standard of safety and security. I believe the report suggests ships other than the LNG tankers could have been used by stowaways with terrorist links.”
The threat of terrorists slipping into the US via vessels is a strong possibility but the biggest fear of all comes from the thought that terrorists would hijack vessels to be used as suicide weapons. The suicide speedboat attack on the USS Cole on 12 October 2000 and the recent attack on the Basra oil terminal in the Persian Gulf which has taken the lives of two US sailors and a Coast Guardsman show the possibilities.
The latest fear, of terrorists hijacking oil tankers plying the Straits of Malacca and using them as ready-fuelled weapons of terror, however, has caused tensions to be raised between Singapore, the US and Malaysia.
The Singaporean government does not feel the Straits are adequately protected and fears vessels plying the waters there will be natural targets for al-Qaeda and/or other terrorists.
It wants the US to deploy its forces there and, according to the top US military commander in the Asia-Pacific, Admiral Thomas Fargo, “The US is considering the possibility of deploying US forces in the Straits as part of its counterterrorism efforts in South East Asia.”
This move, however, has been rejected by Malaysia which has also criticised Singapore for what it perceives to be an affront to Malaysia’s abilities to protect the waterway.
According to Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, “I strongly object to any suggestion that a third country should be involved in determining the safety or security of the Malacca Straits.”
