Malaysia is one of the safest places for foreign diplomatic missions to operate and suspicious parcels sent to foreign missions here should not mean Malaysia is a dangerous place, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Wednesday.

Foreign embassies and high commissions should not be overly concerned over the incident as necessary precautionary measures would be taken to protect their safety, he told reporters at the Malaysian Foreign Ministry seated in Putrajaya, the country's administrative center.

Malaysia does not take anything for granted, the country is vigilant and it is always on the lookout, he said after receiving President of the International Criminal Court Judge Philippe Kirsch.

Malaysia's official news agency Bernama Wednesday reported that five more foreign missions received parcels on Wednesday with a compact disc laced with a yellow liquid and white powder. The packets were sent almost simultaneously to the US, Russia and France embassies and the British and Australian high commissions Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, nine foreign missions were placed on full alert after receiving parcels that were suspected to carry home-made bombs and the deadly anthrax powder, according to Bernama.

However, police found no such items. The yellow liquid and white powder inside were said to be harmless, it said.

Syed Hamid cautioned that there should be no attempts to paint Malaysia as if it was inundated with so much security problems.

In Malaysia, the foreign missions are very well protected, he noted.

Even at the height of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, there had been no backlash against foreigners working with foreign missions in our country, he said, adding that Malaysia is proud of its record.

He said delivery of the suspicious parcels to the embassies caused a feeling of uneasiness given the fact that it happened in the wake of the recent deadly blasts on the Indonesian island resort of Bali attributed to suicide bombers.

While countries in the region condemn crimes committed by terrorists, the fact remains that a whole network of these people had not totally been wiped out, he said.

Situations like what happened in Indonesia show that there are still groups operating, and the countries in the region need to continue enhancing cooperation among them so that early action can be taken to prevent this type of heinous crime from happening, he said.

Source: Xinhua