The JI threat has been curbed in Malaysia and Singapore with the arrest of key leaders but the region must stay vigilant because JI members are regrouping and gathering strength," said Singapore's top security minister Tony Tan.

"I believe we have contained the problem in Malaysia and Singapore but this is not the end of the issue," said Tan, who is deputy premier and coordinating minister for security and defence.

"They are constantly changing, adapting, regenerating themselves. They are reforming outside Malaysia and Singapore. We have to face this menace for many years to come," he said.

"I think the possibility of an attack is always there. We have to be constantly on our guard. The more that the ASEAN countries can cooperate together, the better we will be prepared to prevent any such attacks from taking place."

Tan, who is on a three-day visit here, urged the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to beef up aviation and maritime security, especially in the busy Malacca Straits which carries half of the world's oil and one-third of world trade.

"Transnational terrorism is security threat of this century. It has deep idealogical roots, It has many facets. I don't think we should be under any illusions about the danger to our respective countries and to the region," he told reporters after visiting the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEACCT).

Tan said predominantly Muslim Malaysia could help by providing lessons for other Muslim countries on how Islam can be compatible with progress.

The warning echoed remarks by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his top intelligence chief last week that JI, seen as the regional wing of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, remained a threat as its members were regrouping and operating out of Indonesia.

But Abdullah said the region was winning the war on terror and the threat should end soon.

Authorities blame the JI for a string of attacks including the Bali bombings which killed 202 people in October 2002 and the Marriott hotel car bombing which killed 12 in Jakarta last August.

Tan held talks Tuesday with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak, and both leaders pledged to bolster security cooperation to fight the terror scourge. Malaysia has detained some 90 alleged militants and Singapore 37.

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