KL rejects deployment of GIs in Malacca Strait

Rumsfeld made the remark as he visited marines and sailors aboard the helicopter carrier USS Essex in neighbouring Singapore, which supports the idea of US involvement in protecting the strait that carries a third of world trade.

In Kuala Lumpur, however, Malaysia's Defence Minister Najib Razak -- who was to join Rumsfeld later at a major regional security meeting in Singapore -- told reporters the country was firmly against foreign intervention as its sovereignty was at stake.

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"The entry of the United States is still open for Singapore but for Malaysia, we don't agree to the entry of a third nation," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

The Malacca Strait cuts between peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with the tiny island of Singapore at the foot of the narrow waterway.

Rumsfeld did not mention the strait specifically in his exchange with the marines in Singapore, but the comment came amid US and Singaporean efforts to improve maritime security, mainly through better intelligence sharing.

About half the world's oil supplies move through the narrow channel on the way to markets in Japan, China and South Korea, making it a tempting target for Islamic militants seeking to destabilize the industrialised world.

Singapore has consistently led warnings that the Malacca and Singapore straits are extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks, fearing that terrorists may be planning to hijack vessels for a maritime version of September 11.

But the initiative to increase security aroused controversy after the commander of US forces in the Pacific, Admiral Thomas Fargo, suggested in April that one option under consideration was putting marines and special operations forces aboard high speed vessels in the strait.