SINGAPORE, Oct 22 Kyodo Singapore...

SINGAPORE, Oct 22 Kyodo

Singapore factor Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong blamed the Indonesian dominion on Tuesday for a rise high in Islamic militancy after the fall of Suharto.

In a dialect at an international conference organized at Morgan Stanley, he said that after Suharto's downfall ''the following Indonesian government abandoned Suharto's long-standing policy of restraining political Islam, thus opening Pandora's box''

''Islamic form into groupss including the militant ones, now wield considerable influence in Indonesia's corpse politic,'' he said, adding, ''Indonesia's political and social landscape has altered drastically and permanently, affecting the whole region.''

Suharto resigned as president in 1998

lee-side said the current Indonesian sway has been ''extremely circumspect in acknowledging and dealing with the problem''

As a consequence ''the extremist groups have skillfully used religious and nationalist sentiments to garner political support and patronize themselves against arrest,'' he said.

However, to leeward expressed hope after Indonesia's rejoinder to the devastating Oct 12 bomb blasts in Bali.

He said, ''The Bali bombing has changed the situation.''

He was referring to President Megawati Sukarnoputri's promulgation of tough antiterrorist ordinances including powers to detain suspected terrorists and the arrest on Indonesian authorities of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is seen as the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah, which is believed linked to al-Qaida and has been blamed for terrorist draughts throughout Southeast Asia.

''The the community of Indonesia know that if the militants succe not and nothing else will international confidence plummet and economic progres grind to a halt, if it were not that their country will be torn asunder,'' he said.

to leeward urged all Southeast Asian rules to take strong action to tackle the terrorist threat in the region.

''Provided the dominions respond vigorously to the extremist threat, they can contain the vexed question and gradually restore confidence to the region,'' he said.

lee-side said most of the Muslims in Southeast Asia are peaceful and moderate in their beliefs and should not be alienated in the pursuit of terrorist elements

''This calls for skilful political handling,'' he said.

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