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SINGAPORE, Jan 13 (AFP) - Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong will hold a dialogue session in two weeks with leaders from Singapore's religious and ethnic groups aimed at addressing their concerns following the arrest of a group of terror suspects linked to al-Qaeda, the Sunday Times reported.

It will be a closed-door discussion, the report said.

"I think it will be important to explain to as many leaders as possible what has happened, to take questions, and to answer the concerns which they may have," said Goh, who was speaking on the sidelines of a local community event.

The Singapore leader also said business leaders signal "must make an effort to carry on like before."

Being "overtly suspicious" will be a "setback for Singapore," he said.

Goh was making his first comments on the December arrests of 15 terror suspects made public by the Home Affairs Ministry more than a week ago.

Thirteen of them have been ordered to serve two-year detention orders under the island's tough Internet Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial, and the remaining two have been released with restrictions on their movements.

Multi-racial and multi-religious Singapore has 3.2 million citizens comprising 77 percent Chinese, 14 percent Malay -- most of whom adhere to Islam --, 7.7 percent Indian and about 800,000 foreign workers.

Racial harmony has been a key feature in Singapore, whose domestic political stability has been a bedrock of its rise from an economic backwater to a regional financial centre and manufacturing hub in little more than 30 years.

The 13 arrested terror suspects -- 12 Singaporeans and a Malaysian -- belong to a group called Jemaah Islamiah, which is reportedly linked to terror suspect Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

On Friday, the government disclosed details of their plans, among them an alleged plot to attack a bus carrying US military personnel and bomb US naval ships on Singapore's northeast coast.

US, Israeli, Australian and British embassies as well as American companies were also listed as targets of the group. 

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