SINGAPORE, June 1: The Sept 11 attacks on the United States were a warning of worse atrocities to come, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said on Saturday.
There were warning signs that “as terrorists continue to murder innocents, their methods will only grow more deadly”, he told a conference here of Asia-Pacific, North American and European defence ministers and policymakers.
“It would be a mistake to think that we have seen either the last or the worst of such attacks. It would be a mistake to think that, in the future, they will strike only in the United States.”
Wolfowitz, in his keynote speech, extended warnings from US Vice President Dick Cheney earlier this month that “there is no doubt” further attacks were being planned in the United States.
The deputy defence secretary said the threat was global and “threatens hundreds of millions of moderate Muslims in East Asia who are among the principal targets of the terrorists”.
Intelligence analysts have reported increased communications among Al Qaeda cells, held responsible for the Sept 11 carnage, which they said could be an indication that preparations for a new terrorist attack were under way.
In a speech opening the conference on Friday, Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew said Al Qaeda men linked to Osama bin Laden were plotting to overthrow governments in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore to set up an Islamic state.
Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Razak appealed for “international solidarity” in the war against terror, and said countries should look within for possible causes of extremism.
“We may well find under-development, inquality, oppression, injustice, poverty and deprivation ... to be the ingredients that have fed into the propaganda machine of extremists,” Najib said, calling on Washington to also take a lead in a global war against “injustice, poverty and underdevelopment”.
Wolfowitz said the world could “never completely eradicate the threat posed by those who are willing to kill themselves to kill others” but there was much that could be done to preempt their actions.
“A global attack requires a global response,” he said, praising the contributions of Asia-Pacific governments to the US-led war on terror.
In light of September 11, plans are being formed to make the Singapore meeting an annual event.
Much of the discussion is taking place behind closed doors, and Singapore’s Tan said there was a general consensus among the defence ministers for a regular “informal meeting, of dialogue .. and exchange of views” to discuss common issues such as terrorism.—AFP