Reacting to a commentary in the Straits Times questioning Singapore's position, foreign ministry spokeswoman Tan Lian Choo said in a letter to the newspaper that the search for the weapons "is still ongoing."

"Nobody at this point in time can say conclusively that there was no WMD in Iraq," she said.

Singapore is "not embarrassed" by the US failure to find WMD so far, and has taken a "strong, principled and consistent position on Iraq based on Singapore's national interests."

Singapore is one of the staunchest US allies in Asia, providing access to US warships and aircraft. It also has close economic links with Washington, underscored by a landmark free trade agreement signed last month by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and President George W. Bush.

Tan said Singaporeans "cannot afford to strike postures fashionable with the oppositionist media in America and Britain at the expense of the security of Singaporeans."

"Should we have waited until the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) exploded bombs in Singapore before acting against it ?" she said, referring to a Southeast Asian militant group allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

"Similarly, should the US have waited until all its critics were convinced before acting against (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein)?

"A small nation in terrorist-infested Southeast Asia does not have this luxury of libertarian posturing."

Singapore has arrested 32 alleged JI members on charges of involvement in violent plots in the region.

The latest arrest, disclosed only on Tuesday, involved an alleged senior member of the Singaporean wing of JI caught in Bangkok last month on suspicion of involvement in a plot to attack five foreign embassies, including the Singapore mission, in Thailand.

Arifin bin Ali, alias John Wong Ah Hung, was repatriated to Singapore the day after his May 16 arrest and is now being held under the Internal Security Act, which allows suspects to be jailed for two years without trial.

In Washington, Bush has promised that "history and time" will prove that Iraq had unconventional arms programs and denied that US credibility was at stake in the search for such weapons.

But outgoing chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said Tuesday most of the US intelligence information on Iraqi WMD was not "solid" and should not have been used to justify the US-led invasion of the country.

WAR.WIRE