Shabery: Malaysia will not help US spy on
Singapore
NOVEMBER 28, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 — Despite claims that Singapore was aiding the
US to spy on Malaysia, Putrajaya does not intend to do the same, a
minister here said yesterday.
”We could also think of ways to do the same, but we won’t and
should not do this,” Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk
Seri Shabery Cheek was quoted as saying by The
Star today.
According to The Star, Shabery said Putrajaya was
still finding out if the country’s security was breached, adding
that the government would issue a strong protest with the US if it
had evidence of the breach.
In a statement on Tuesday, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri
Anifah Aman related that Singapore’s envoy Ong Keng Yong assured
him that the country meant no harm and promised to clarify the
spying claims to Wisma Putra as soon as possible.
Singapore daily, Straits Times, also reported on
Tuesday the envoy had denied knowledge the republic had helped
facilitate American-Australian espionage in the region.
”We have no interest in doing anything that might harm our partners
or the friendship between our two countries,” Ong, who is the
Singapore High Commissioner to Malaysia, had said.
But Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the
Malaysian government took a serious view of the spy claims as
Singapore is its closest neighbour, and demanded the republic show
proof it had not conduct any espionage activity.
“Whatever information that we have, anything that concerns
espionage that is mentioned by anyone related to our country is
something that we don’t take lightly.
“If Singapore says that this is not true, then it must provide us
with information to refute the allegation and the proof that it is
not true,” he told reporters after closing the Practical Training
on National Cyber Crisis 2013 (X-Maya 5) yesterday.
Members
of Perkasa protesting over spy claims at the Singapore High
Commission in Kuala Lumpur, November 27, 2013. — Picture by Saw
Siow FengYesterday, Malay rights group
Perkasa’s youth wing demanded that Singapore apologise to Malaysia
over the alleged spying activities, with its leader Irwan Fahmi
Ideris saying that failure to do so would mean that the republic is
“rude” and disrespectful.
Recently, top secret documents leaked by US intelligence
whistleblower Edward Snowden showed that Singapore, which was once
a part of Malaysia before breaking off in 1965, is a key partner of
the “5-Eyes” intelligence group led by the United States, which was
revealed to have tapped telephones and monitored communications
networks in Kuala Lumpur.
In a report by Australian media group Fairfax Media last Sunday
quoting Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, it was revealed that
Singapore, which is one of the US’ closest allies, is a key “third
party” providing the ring - comprising the US, the United Kingdom,
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand - access to Malaysia’s
communications channel.
In August, Fairfax had reported that the Singaporean intelligence
is a partner of Australia’s electronic espionage agency, the
Defence Signals Directorate, to tap the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable that runs
from Japan, via Singapore, Djibouti, Suez and the Straits of
Gibraltar to Northern Germany.
This access was allegedly facilitated by Singaporean
telecommunication operator Singapore Telecommunications Limited
(SingTel), which is owned by Singapore government’s investment arm
Temasek Holdings.
According to Fairfax, Malaysia and Indonesia had been key targets
for both Australian and Singaporean intelligence even since the
1970s, since most of Indonesia’s telecommunications and Internet
traffic goes through the island city-state.
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/shabery-malaysia-will-not-help-us-spy-on-singapore