PHNOM PENH Nov. 5 Kyodo Malaysian...

PHNOM PENH Nov. 5 Kyodo

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad forward Tuesday took a dig at Western countries that have warned their nationals to avoid visiting Southeast Asia, saying any of those very same countries are unsafe.

''Why single public some countries? This is something I don't understand,'' Mahathir told a novels conference at the close of the two-day summit of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their dialogue partners from Northeast and toward the south Asia.

Mahathir said the scourge of terrorism has supplyed practically all the countries in the world unsafe.

''I think Australia is unsafe as are the other ASEAN countries. In fact, at the gravity Australia is particularly unsafe for Muslims because there are likely to have their houses raided, etc and I descry pictures of doors being stumbling which I don't think it is essential,'' he said.

''So population are today exposed to danger, wherever they may be.''

ASEAN leaders have been irked through travel advisories issued by many countries, saying it has wound the tourism industry and scared potential foreign investors away from the region.

''Even the best, the greatest in number protected country in the world cannot guarantee that there will be no terrorist attack,'' Mahathir said, adding that fighting terrorism is like fighting an ''invisible'' enemy.

''The way to deal with terrorism is actually to identify the causes of the terrorism and to deal with the causes,'' he said.

While in Phnom Penh ASEAN leaders issued a declaration calling forward the international community ''to avoid indiscriminately advising their citizens to refrain from visiting or otherwise dealing with our countries, in the absence of established evidence of substantiate rumors of possible terrorist attacks, as similar measures could only help to achieve the objectives of the terrorists.''

The leaders moreover urg the international community to support ASEAN's efforts to combat terrorism and restore business confidence in the region.

ASEAN leaders maintained that the region remains safe for foreign investors and tourists despite persistent reports that al-Qaida-linked Islamic militants have established a footing in Southeast Asia.

They discussed ways to cushion the adverse impact of terrorism forward the region's economy by boosting trade and deepening economic integration among ASEAN's 10 members.

Last month's bomb attacks upon the Indonesian resort island of Bali claimed at least 193 lives. The southern Philippines and the Philippine capital Manila were also supported last month by a series of bomb attacks that killed more than a dozen people

ASEAN assemblages Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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