The Phantom Menace: Maritime Terrorism in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore

The speech by the Inspector General of Police at the Sixth International Maritime Bureau Tri-Annual Conference on Piracy and Maritime Security (16-17 May 2007) brought back to the fore an issue which has largely fallen off the radar
screen in the last few years - maritime terrorism in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. In his keynote address the IGP mentioned the success of the littoral States, particularly Malaysia in tackling the piracy menace including the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of several pirate gang members in 2006. Unfortunately the success stories were not reported by the international wire services, but what was reported was the statement that maritime terrorism is still ‘lurking’ in the Straits and remains a ‘real’ and ‘possible’ threat. Coming from the IGP,
this is indeed a cause for concern. Could this be the case of him knowing something that we don’t or was he trying to caution us against complacency in the fight against terrorism and piracy?