Antiterrorism deal needs time to work<\/p>\n
Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The tripartite antiterrorism agreement signed recently by the
\nPhilippines, Malaysia and Indonesia will not take effect
\nimmediately as the three neighboring countries still need a
\nsubstantial amount of time to design their legal frameworks and
\ncommunication centers, says a government official.<\/p>\n
Marty Natalegawa, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign
\nAffairs, said on Monday that the agreement would take effect only
\nafter the three countries had notified they had readied their own
\ninstitutions to simultaneously enforce it.<\/p>\n
\"Each of the three countries is required to set up a liaison
\ncenter that will be in charge of operations. The center will have
\nmembers from all government institutions that are in charge of
\nsecurity, defense and law enforcement,\" Marty told The Jakarta
\nPost on Monday.<\/p>\n
The three-way agreement, inked by the three countries' foreign
\nministers in Kuala Lumpur on May 7, is scheduled to help
\nenforcement agencies to monitor potential security threats
\neffectively through a more rigorous exchange of information.
\nApart from targeting potential terrorist threats, the pact will
\nlook at ways of tackling other transnational crimes, such as
\nsmuggling, drug trafficking, hijacking, illegal trafficking of
\nwomen and children and piracy.<\/p>\n
Marty added that once the liaison center and the legal
\ntechnicalities were established, only then would the pact come
\ninto effect.<\/p>\n
When asked if it could take up to two years for the legal
\ntechnicalities and the setting up of the communications center to
\nbe completed, Marty said quickly that it would \"not necessarily
\ntake that long,\" and that preparations were already under way.<\/p>\n
The pact allows for the exchange of airline passenger lists
\nand the carrying out of joint training and exercises against
\nterrorism and other transnational crimes, but extradition matters
\nare not covered in the pact, which has made it somewhat vague.<\/p>\n
Philippines President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal earlier ordered
\nthe release of two of three Indonesians detained in mid-March by
\nPhilippine authorities at the Ninoy Aquino international airport
\nin Manila, for alleged possession of explosives components.<\/p>\n
Agus Dwikarna, the only one still detained in the Philippines,
\nhas his pretrial hearing scheduled for May 16. According to
\nrecent media reports in the Philippines, intelligence officials
\nhave identified Agus as leader of a militant group that helped
\ntrain Al-Qaeda operatives.<\/p>\n
Agus is a senior official of the Laskar Jundullah militia.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/antiterrorism-deal-needs-time-to-work-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }