Malaysia and the United States have renewed a military cooperation pact for a further 10 years, Reuters reported. The new agreement enabled armed forces from the two countries to share logistics and supplies, a follow-up to close military team-work during relief operations for tsunami-hit Asia, the two sides said. "The (agreement) enhances strong military-to-military cooperation between our two countries," U.S. Ambassador Christopher LaFleur told reporters at a signing ceremony. Monday's renewed Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement replaces a pact that expired in 2004. A Malaysian defense ministry official said the brief gap between the two agreements did not signify any difficulty in renewing the arrangement. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak witnessed the signing in the Malaysian capital but made no comment to reporters. Zoellick is on a six-nation Southeast Asian tour to discuss issues including counter-terrorism and security cooperation, trade, democracy and human rights. He is due to hold a news conference in Kuala Lumpur later on Monday.
