Malaysia set to launch antiterror center<\/p>\n
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
A Southeast Asian antiterrorism center that was proposed by the
\nUnited States will begin operating in Malaysia before the end of
\nthe year, a diplomat heading the project said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Malaysia has picked a senior diplomat to head a regional
\nantiterrorism center which it hopes to launch by the end of the
\nyear in partnership with the United States, reports said on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Zainal Abidin Zain, the foreign ministry undersecretary for
\nSoutheast Asia and Pacific, has been appointed director-general
\nof the center, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was quoted as
\nsaying by The Star.<\/p>\n
"We will launch our programs very soon ... definitely before
\n2003 is over," Zainal Abidin told Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Malaysia said last year it would host the center after U.S.
\nPresident George W. Bush spoke about the idea during a meeting
\nwith Southeast Asian leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic
\nCooperation forum in Mexico.<\/p>\n
But Kuala Lumpur's staunch opposition to the U.S.-led war in
\nIraq subsequently raised questions about whether the center
\nshould be moved elsewhere. However, officials in this
\npredominantly Muslim country stressed they remained committed to
\nthe fight against terrorism.<\/p>\n
Syed Hamid said on Sunday that the center would be run like an
\ninstitute, holding training programs, workshops and seminars to
\nhelp the region implement antiterrorism measures.<\/p>\n
Zainal Abidin said officials were in the final stages of
\nidentifying a headquarters in Kuala Lumpur for the center and
\nrecruiting support staff, who would initially comprise Malaysians
\nonly.<\/p>\n
He said Malaysia would foot the bill of setting up the
\nfacility, but other governments, including those outside
\nSoutheast Asia, might be invited to help fund and participate in
\nfuture programs.<\/p>\n
Deputy Defense Minister Shafie Apdal has said the United
\nStates may offer some financial assistance to set up the center
\nand "if it does, we will accept it".<\/p>\n
Experts from around the world will serve as instructors at the
\ncenter, which will be open to all 10 members of the Association
\nof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) when it is launched.<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian leaders have stepped up cooperation against
\nterrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States,
\nlast year's Oct. 12 nightclub bombings on Indonesia's Bali island
\nand a series of bomb attacks in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Malaysia and Singapore have detained without trial scores of
\nsuspected militants from Jamaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda-linked
\nextremist group suspected in the Bali bombings and accused of
\nplotting attacks on U.S. embassies and other diplomatic missions
\nin Southeast Asia. Suspected members have also been arrested in
\nthe Philippines.<\/p>\n
Malaysia was one of Asia's leading critics of the Iraq war,
\nwarning it would kill innocent Iraqis, fuel international
\nterrorism and worsen the global economy.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysia-set-to-launch-antiterror-center-1447893297",
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