7th Fleet Focus: Al Qaeda Hunt in the South Pacific

This item is active this morning in the South Asian media.

WASHINGTON is closely monitoring Pacific islands and American territories as the 6th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York nears.

Naval intelligence official for US Naval Crime Investigation Services, Joseph Dela Cruz, said more ships have been deployed to the islands around the Pacific region.

''The concern is global when it comes to transnational crimes. It is a real problem when you have foreigners coming through (who may potentially) use the islands as a stepping stone to enter US territories like Guam or the Northern Marianas, Mr Cruz said.

The federal government controls Guam's borders and immigration system but not the CNMI's.

''The US is watching the various islands to see if these people are coming through, again, as a staging point to come to the United States and threaten the public. More ships have been deployed within the Pacific,'' said Dela Cruz.

But he declined to specify the routes saying: ''I cannot comment on that.''

Practically all islands in the Pacific rely on international tourism for their economies.

Mr Cruz was among the visiting delegates from different agencies and island nations who attended the two-day Micronesia Police Executive Association conference held in the Northern Marianas, accorinding to a Pacnews report.

The US still has several ships and subs yet to return to port following Valiant Shield 2007, with another frigate deployed to the region on Friday. It is an interesting report though, it isn't often an "intelligence official for US Naval Crime Investigation Services" gets quoted on current operations at sea, sounds sortof like an Op Sec failure, maybe not though.