Singapore leader urges vigilance against terror attacks
Singapore is doing its best to protect its people from terror attacks but there is no "100 percent guarantee" it will never be hit, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned Wednesday.
"Extremist terrorism is a continuing threat," he said in a New Year's Day message.
He cited the recent attacks in Mumbai in which a 28-year-old Singaporean was among more than 100 people killed in a shooting and grenade rampage by militants in the Indian city.
"We are doing our utmost to prevent something like this from happening here. Our security and intelligence agencies monitor potential threats closely and cooperate quietly with their counterparts in neighbouring countries," Lee said.
"We are tightening up border security and taking physical precautions at major events. Ordinary citizens can help in this too by being on the alert and reporting anything suspicious."
He cautioned however that "there is no 100 percent guarantee that we will never be hit" and called on citizens to be prepared in case extremists succeeded.
"We must strengthen our psychological resilience and our social cohesion so that, should an attack ever occur despite all our efforts, we can absorb the shock, pull together and recover from the blow," he said.
In 2001 and 2002, 32 members of regional extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah were arrested with bomb-making instructions, photographs and videos of local targets including a subway station and naval base, according to the government.
The above was extracted from: http://news.sg.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1898809
From details on the Prime Minister's New Year message, click on the following link:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/annex/PM_2009.htm
