US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Monday discussed regional security issues with Thai leaders in his one-day stopover in Thailand.

During his meeting with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the security officials, Rumsfeld called for more regional cooperation in fighting sea piracy, which has been escalating out of control recently, according to Thai News Agency.

"The United States wants Thailand and other countries in the region to participate in the center of information and technical exchange in the Malacca Straits which Washington recently established with Malaysia," said Thai Defense Minister Gen. Thammarak Isarangura Na Ayutthaya.

As one of the world's most important stretches of water, the Malacca Strait carries about one-third of the world's trade with 50,000 ships passing through annually.

The defense secretary was briefed by Thaksin about the situation in the kingdom's Muslim-dominated southern border region, where separatist movements have claimed more than 800 lives over the past 17 months.

The Thai government has assured Rumsfeld that the insurgency problem in Thailand's southern provinces is not related to international terrorism but an internal affair, and they are working hard to solving the problem, said Thammarak.

Flying in Thailand late Sunday, Rumsfeld also thanked Thailand for the efforts to help foreign nationals after the tsunami struck last year. He is scheduled to head for Norway Tuesday morning.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2005)