Makassar – President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday said he supported a plan for the construction of three new naval bases – in Sorong, Sumatra and Java – to better assure security in this archipelago nation.

"I agree very much with the intentions of the Indonesian navy to build bases for marines in Sorong, Sumatra and Java because with such distribution of bases, security – which is an essential part of our life – can be assured," he said.

Speaking at the opening of a youth association congress of the Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic organisation, he said eastern Indonesia should not become a staging ground that could be used by foreign interests to undermine the state.

"The development in this eastern Indonesia region should not become a target of international plans to undermine us," he said, without elaborating on the plans. He said if the government had the funds, it would build many more bases across the country.

Indonesia has two main navy bases, in Teluk Ratai in the southern Sumatra province of Lampung and in Surabaya, in East Java, and several small navy bases.