Singapore on full alert for terrorist attack

SINGAPORE bolstered its defences yesterday after receiving information of a terrorist plot to attack vessels off the coast of the city-state in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, a cabinet minister said.

Malaysia and Indonesia have also stepped up maritime and air patrols in the Malacca Strait, where millions of barrels of oil pass daily. Singapore's navy warned that a terrorist group was planning attacks on tankers and other vessels but gave no details.

"All alert levels have been raised," home affairs minister Wong Kan Seng told parliament, saying that the government has increased security at border crossings, airports, sea ports and at high-risk targets such as two new casino resorts.

Until about a year ago, the strait was infested with pirates that hijacked ships, and such attacks were a regular occurrence. But joint operations by security forces of countries around the waterway has all but ended such attacks.