Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the pirates' hideouts should be known to the countries concerned.
"You should know where these pirates are, where they are based, and move against them ... it is the most effective way, certainly the cheapest way," he said at a dialogue following his speech on "Enhancing Maritime Security Co-operation" at the 4th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia Security Conference, dubbed the Shangri-La Dialogue, here.
By Jackson Sawatan
SINGAPORE, June 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Sunday suggested the possibility of countries working together to detain at source rather than on the high seas the pirates who prey on ships plying the Straits of Melaka.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the pirates' hideouts should be known to the countries concerned.
"You should know where these pirates are, where they are based, and move against them ... it is the most effective way, certainly the cheapest way," he said at a dialogue following his speech on "Enhancing Maritime Security Co-operation" at the 4th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia Security Conference, dubbed the Shangri-La Dialogue, here.
If national governments can move against their nationals who commit transnational crimes, that would eliminate most of the threat (of piracy), he said.
Najib, who is also Defence Minister, said that given the strategic importance of the Straits of Melaka to global trade and economic stability "we must ensure that all stakeholders continue to work together to find and develop preventive measures that can be accepted politically by all and work effectively on the ground".
There was also a need to explore additional mechanisms that could act as effective deterrents, he added.
"This may include placing law enforcement personnel on vessels travelling through the straits," he said.
Najib also said that Malaysia had not found any credible link yet between terrorists who commit acts of aggression for a political motive and modern-day pirates whose primary aim was to derive commercial benefit.
"For the time being, these pirates who operate on the high seas are no different from their land-based cousins who extort ransoms from travellers and hijack lorries with valuable cargo," he said.
