SINGAPORE, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - About 2,000 Singapore soldiers on Wednesday began patrolling with new powers to search and detain suspicious individuals at key installations including the busy Changi Airport, local reports said.

The new powers were part of an amendment to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Act passed by parliament in May.

A report on the Channel NewsAsia website said Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean has invoked an order under the amended SAF Act to give the special soldiers search-and-detain powers.

Teo told parliament in May the change was prompted by the altered security landscape since the September 11, 2001 suicide plane attacks against the United States which killed nearly 3,000 people.

The pro-government Straits Times newspaper said about 2,000 soldiers with the new powers would be patrolling Changi Airport, an ExxonMobil refinery, a separate petrochemical and chemicals complex, and Sembawang wharves.

Soldiers patrolling key installations such as Changi Airport have been a regular sight since 2001 but under previous law they did not have powers to search and detain. They could only assist the police whom they accompanied.

Singapore officials have repeatedly said the city-state, a staunch US ally and a regional commercial and business hub, is a prime target for attack by extremists.