Widely reported comments by a US admiral in March that US special forces or the Marines could be used to enhance security in the busy Malacca Strait sparked open opposition from both Malaysia and Indonesia which straddle the key waterway.

The Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, links trading and oil centers in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Over 50,000 commercial vessels travel the 500-mile channel between the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malaysian peninsula to Singapore each year.

"I think Rumsfeld will want to do some damage control on this issue to try and get it viewed in a more positive light by regional countries, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia," said Michael Richardson, a researcher at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

The United States has not held any formal talks with Asian nations on its plan for a Regional Maritime Security Initiative (RMSI), but knows it must smooth the diplomatic waters if it to be successful.

"The ball is in the US court to pacify Indonesia and Malaysia and get the issue back on the table," said a Western diplomat in Singapore.

Singapore's deputy prime minister and Coordinating Minister for Security and Defence, Tony Tan, has repeatedly warned there is mounting evidence that terror networks such as the Jemaah Islamiah are preparing for a sea-borne attack.

"The threat of a commercial vessel or cruise liner being hijacked and used a floating bomb against Singapore is a very serious one," he told reporters during a recent inspection of security preparations around the city state's ports.

Singapore, one of Washington's closest Asian allies and commander of a large security force in Strait, wants nations that benefit from trade carried along the waterways of the region, such as the United States and Japan, to contribute to policing.