DATE=06/02/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ASIA SECURITY / NUKES (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-290425

BYLINE=GERALDINE GOH

DATELINE=SINGAPORE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Top defense officials meeting in Singapore say Southeast Asian countries need to increase security to safeguard against nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. As Geraldine Goh reports from Singapore, the issue of nuclear non-proliferation dominated the three-day meeting of 150 top defense officials and experts.

TEXT: U-S Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz says there is a very real fear that not only so-called rogue nations could get access to chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, but terrorists may be able to acquire them, too.

/// WOLFOWITZ ACT ///

The events of September 11th, if anything, intensifies our concern about it, and I think that it is a major element of the proliferation scene that is, perhaps, what I find, even more frightening and dangerous than the state proliferation.

/// END ACT ///

Addressing a regional security conference in Singapore Sunday, Mr. Wolfowitz said Asia has reason to be concerned that terrorists - like those who attacked the United States - are ready to target the region.

Officials say there is evidence the al-Qaida terrorist network has been operating in Southeast Asia - and dozens of suspects have been detained in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. There is also suspicion that cells are active in Indonesia.

Mr. Wolfowitz urged regional governments to adopt more stringent security measures at nuclear installations and where sensitive materials may be stored.

/// OPT /// Former U-S Defense Secretary William Cohen expressed concern about nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union.

/// COHEN ACT // OPT ///

In the former Soviet Union, there may be as many as one-thousand metric tons of highly enriched uranium, as well as 150-200 metric tons of plutonium. Some of the material may be stored in less than adequately secured facilities. And the danger is that this material could fall into the hands of, or be acquired by, al Qaida, or other radical groups is not an abstraction, but a reality.

/// END ACT // END OPT ///

Defense officials and experts from around the region called for greater cooperation in sharing intelligence, joint military training and assistance from the United States in these efforts. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/GG/JO/TW