ASEAN hears calls for firm steps to battle terrorism

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called on Monday for firm measures to tackle the rising threat of terrorism in Southeast Asia as he opened two days of talks among the region’s foreign ministers.

The terror attacks on September 11, 2001 and other recent events “require us to exert our best efforts to strengthen our solidarity and take firm measures to maintain public security and political and economic stability”, the premier told Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministers gathered here. Such efforts “will protect the ASEAN as a productive investment destination and the epicentre of peace and prosperity”, he added.

Arrests in recent weeks in Cambodia and Thailand of alleged members of regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which is blamed for last October’s Bali bombings, have brought the threat of an attack in Southeast Asia back into the spotlight. Officials said ASEAN and the United States are soon to endorse a five-point counter-terrorism work plan that could see American help to safeguard shipping in the vital Malacca Strait and sharing of intelligence information. The plan was developed following an agreement reached between Washington and ASEAN in July last year to devise mechanisms “to prevent, disrupt and combat international terrorism”. Hun Sen’s opening remarks failed to mention ASEAN member Myanmar, whose arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi last month has provoked an international outcry among world leaders.

The issue of her detention and a nationwide crackdown on her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which followed clashes between her supporters and a pro-junta mob in the north of the country last month, is nevertheless expected to be thrashed out among ministers during their “retreat” talks later Monday. The discussion was scheduled after military-ruled Myanmar agreed that the topic be tackled, according to ASEAN secretariat spokesman MC Abad.

In a significant move for the 10-member bloc, ministers are expected to voice their concern over developments in Myanmar at the conclusions of the talks, Abad said.

“This is the first time that ASEAN has taken a pro-active stand on Myanmar on the record,” he said. “In general, it will be a statement of concern.” The move would be a substantial departure from the group’s normal policy of non-interference in members’ domestic affairs, which critics have charged emasculates the organisation. Myanmar’s foreign minister, Win Aung, said Sunday Aung San Suu Kyi was being held to protect her following rumours that an assassination attempt may be made against her. This was the first time such a threat has been mentioned.

North Korea is also expected to be on the agenda for the foreign ministers’ meet, even though the Stalinist state is only sending an envoy to the talks. The meeting opened amid tight security, which is expected to be boosted further in coming days as ministers and senior officials begin arriving for Wednesday’s gathering of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Asia Pacific’s top security grouping.

Headlining the delegates will be US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has already warned he will push reluctant ASEAN members to deal strongly with Myanmar’s recalcitrance. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The ARF groups ASEAN with Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, South Korea, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States. —AFP

– plans to endorse 5-point anti-terror plan with US

PHNOM PENH: Southeast Asia and the United States are to endorse a five-point counter-terrorism work plan that could see American help to safeguard shipping in the vital Malacca Strait and sharing of intelligence information, officials said Monday.

The plan was developed following an agreement reached between Washington and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July last year to devise mechanisms “to prevent, disrupt and combat international terrorism.”

US Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to pore over details of the plan when he meets with his ASEAN counterparts in the Cambodian capital on Thursday ahead of its formal endorsement by officials. “Some of the counter-terrorism measures in the plan can be launched immediately while the rest will be carried out in the next 12 months,” ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong told AFP in an interview.

“We need to work together and act swiftly because terrorists have become global in their business links, just like multinational corporations,” Ong said. The Western diplomat said the five-point work plan, agreed in principle by US and ASEAN senior officials during a meeting in Hanoi recently, comprises steps to:

- to improve intelligence and terrorist financing information sharing;

- enhance linkages among law enforcement agencies;

- strengthen capacity building to respond to transportation border and immigration control challenges;

- tackle the flow of terrorist material, money and people;

- have counter-terrorism and training through relevant US agencies; especially in communication capabilities to enhance capabilities of the region to tackle terrorism and sea piracy.

Among institutions being set up under the joint pact between ASEAN and the United States is a Southeast Asia Centre for Counter-Terrorism in Kuala Lumpur focussing on capacity-building, human resources development and exchange of information to combat the scourge. —AFP

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