Crossfire War: SE Asia; Kuala Lumpur Unaware Langkawi is a Militant Base

By Willard Payne

Night Watch: KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, was quoted by Reuters, as saying his government is not aware of its island of Langkawi being used by Islamic militants to plan attacks in southern Thailand.

"There is no terrorist acitivity whatsoever in Langkawi. If Thailand has any information about terrorist acitivities on Langkawi, please let us know. Until now, we don’t have any evidence whatsoever."

He was responding to accusations by Thailand’s Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangura who had stated that Langkawi, less than an hour by boat from southern Thailand, has been used by terrorist to plan some of their attacks. Thammarak also said that Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad "owns the island."

Mahathir had been the driving force behind the island’s redevelopment. What was once a fishing colony has now become a duty-free shopping haven and venue for international conferences.

Bangkok will not wait for Kuala Lumpur to be convinced before launching attacks to destroy the bases the militants are using. I assume they will warn Kuala Lumpur as diplomatically as possible.