Will Iraq war hurt terror war?

US missions in Indonesia and Malaysia remained closed for a third day Thursday and the Philippines mission remained on heightened alert to protect against what State Department officials described as "specific, credible threats'' of terrorist attacks turned up in interrogations of alleged Al Qaeda operatives.

US officials say the embassies will likely remain closed through the weekend.

The closures, which coincide with President Bush's bid this week for UN support for a war with Iraq, illustrate how the US war on terror in Southeast Asia and other interests in the region might suffer if Washington takes action against Baghdad.

Nowhere is that more true than in Indonesia, a volatile nation that has the world's largest Muslim population and is struggling through a democratic transition. It's a country that America has worried could harbor Al Qaeda agents and that has not yet given wholehearted support for the war on terror.

That's a problem, because US and regional intelligence officials say terrorist networks remain intact here, and would probably look to strike at US interests if war were declared on Iraq.

But diplomats and analysts are also bracing for an outpouring of public support for Iraq and condemnation of the US. In that event, President Megawati Sukarnoputri's ability to move against domestic radicals will be severely constrained.

The aftermath of an attack on Iraq "will badly damage America's ability to work with the Indonesians," predicts a regional security analyst.

US officials became alarmed about a possible spate of regional truck-bomb attacks following interrogations of alleged Al Qaeda operatives, including Omar al-Faruq, a Kuwaiti national arrested in Indonesia in early June, given into US custody, and flown to an undisclosed US ally for interrogation.

Mr. Faruq, also known as Mahmoud bin Ahmad Assegaf, is alleged to have been a midlevel Al Qaeda financier and a go-between for Al Qaeda and sympathetic radical groups in Indonesia, like Jemaah Islamiyah. US officials declined to provide any details of the supposed plot, but said that a number of people are under surveillance as a consequence of the information provided to them.

Philippines officials say the US told them that its evidence pointed to truck bombs. The Philippines released a memo Wednesday by US Ambassador Albert del Rosario, which detailed a phone call he had with US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly on Tuesday.

Mr. Kelly said US intelligence indicated that Al Qaeda agents in the region had acquired several tons of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can serve as a powerful explosive, and that the threat was "imminent," according to Mr. Del Rosario's memo.

Rather than generate sympathy, the US reports of impending terrorist attacks have been greeted with popular skepticism in Southeast Asia's two predominantly Muslim nations. Here, against a backdrop of anger over America's threats toward Iraq, claims of terrorist activity are increasingly seen as attempts to justify US foreign policy.

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