KUALA LUMPUR, April 4: Malaysia on Sunday 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 counter terrorism 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.

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. -AFP