FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL MEETS US AMBASSADOR TO CLARIFY ON SECURITY IN

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- The Foreign Ministry Monday said foreign
tourists visiting East Malaysia state of Sabah need not be unduly worried as the
situation there is peaceful.

The ministry's deputy secretary-general Mohd Radzi Abd Rahman in a
statement Monday said this was because the Malaysian government was fully
committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of visitors to the country and
citizens alike.

Mohd Radzi met with US ambassador James R. Keith at Wisma Putra (Foreign
Ministry) Monday where he urged the latter to use his good office to review the
Warden's Notice and Travel Alert on Eastern Sabah.

He said this was in light of the existing sound security arrangement and the
latest assurances by Malaysian leaders on the security of the area, given the
special attention placed by the government to the area as a popular tourist
destination.

Mohd Radzi also reiterated the various statements and assurances given by
the prime minister and deputy prime minister and heads of Malaysian security
agencies on the actual security situation in the region.

He said the Warden's Notice and Travel Alert could create a wrong,
misleading and negative impression to the outside world on the security
situation in Malaysia in relation to terrorist threats although the advisory was
referring to a remote region of Eastern Sabah only.
-- BERNAMA