Debated in Parliament on 12 Aug 2013.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) in the past two years, how many times has the US asked for assistance from Singapore on counter-terrorism intelligence and law enforcement cooperation; (b) whether Singapore has been able to assist fully with the requests; and (c) whether there are requests that Singapore is not able
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to support the US on.
There are long-standing counter-terrorism related interactions between our security agencies and their US counterparts which are marked by regular and frequent exchanges. The past two years have been no different. For operational security reasons I am not able to reveal the exact number of requests we have received from our American counterparts. I can inform Members that as always, our agencies have offered their full assistance and acted expeditiously to the extent possible, on any requests for assistance from their US counterparts. They have also communicated their findings or information on actions or investigations conducted promptly.
On the minority of occasions where we were not able to meet or fully meet their requests for assistance, it was because the information provided in the request was insufficient or not specific enough, or there were legal constraints which we had to observe. These outcomes have also been promptly communicated to their US counterparts. There have also been instances where our US counterparts were not able to assist us based on their own constraints. This is to be expected in any relationship of this nature. Our US counterparts have not raised any specific concern over any particular cases with our agencies.
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