Malacca Strait security hurt by poor resources-think tank

SINGAPORE, Jun 2 (Reuters) Security in Southeast Asia's busy sea lanes is being hampered by poor military resources and rivalry between countries in the region, a leading international think tank said today.

Kicking off a two-day security conference in Singapore -- to be attended by United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld -- the International Institute for Strategic studies (IISS) said Southeast Asian states needed to strengthen their naval forces in order to tackle piracy, drug trafficking and terrorism.

Piracy poses the biggest maritime threat in the Malacca Strait, which links Asia with the West Asia and Europe and carries some 40 per cent of the world's trade, including 80 per cent of the energy supplies to Japan and China.

''But continuing rivalry and tensions between Southeast Asian states would limit the intensity and operation-readiness between countries,'' said Tim Huxley, a director at London-based IISS.

He said cooperation was limited due to unease in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia over U.S. military involvement, as well as outstanding maritime border disputes in Southeast Asia.

However, the use of private security forces to help police the seas would partly fill the gap and foster cooperation among the various countries' navies, Huxley said.

Outside powers such as the United States, Japan and India have offered help to secure the strategic sea lane.

Lloyd's, the London insurance market, last year rated the Malacca Strait a ''war risk'' zone -- adding the sea lane to a list of 21 areas such as Iraq and Colombo that it deemed high-risk and vulnerable to war, strikes and terrorism.

Defence chiefs from India, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore are also attending.

REUTERS SI HT1232