"We deny any redeployment of US troops. The US has no intention of reopening any bases in the region," Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, commander of US military forces in the Asia-Pacific, told reporters.

Fargo is visiting Malaysia's eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, which fronts the troubled southern Philippine island of Mindanao, where Muslim separatists are fighting the Manila government.

The US embassy said Fargo would focus his three-day visit on ways the two countries could co-operate in defeating terrorism and identifying ways to enhance the military relationship.

"The United States military has an ongoing and positive relationship with the Malaysian armed forces, which includes exercises, port visits and security assistance," it said in a statement.

The US commander said any realignment of US troops in the region would be done in cooperation with the countries concerned, who would all be informed in advance.

Fargo hailed the strong military cooperation with Malaysia after witnessing a military exercise by the Malaysian armed forces off Sabah coast and joined army chief General Mohamad Zahidi Zainuddin aboard a Malaysian aircraft in an over-flight of several frontier islands.

"I'm pleased with the coordination," Fargo said. "It is excellent by any standards."

When asked if he would push Washington to lift a travel ban on US citizens to visit Sabah, he said: "What I will do is to report precisely what I saw."

The US advisory, an extension of a previous statement issued in November, urged its citizens to "exercise extreme caution" in Malaysia especially in Sabah state, where members of the banned Jemaah Islamiyah group, linked to al-Qaeda, have been active.

Australia, Britain, Germany and other countries have similarly warned their citizens to exercise caution in travelling to Malaysia.

WAR.WIRE