RI looks to boost terror fight: Downer<\/p>\n
Paul Holmes, Reuters\/Canberra<\/p>\n
Indonesia is looking at ways to strengthen coordination among its
\nsecurity services in the fight against militants and Australia
\nwill do whatever it can to help, Foreign Minister Alexander
\nDowner said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"Coordinating their efforts could make a significant
\ndifference to their efforts to catch people, track them down and
\nidentify who is responsible for the different kinds of terrorist
\nactivities and where they are coming from,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
He spoke to Reuters before leaving for Indonesia for a
\nmemorial service on Wednesday on the third anniversary of the
\nBali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88
\nAustralians.<\/p>\n
Australia wants Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim
\nnation, to ban the militant network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and
\nexclude its jailed spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir from a
\nremission program open to most prisoners.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir was jailed for 30 months for his role in the Bali
\nbombings in March but his sentence was cut by 135 days on
\nIndonesia's Independence Day. It could be cut further at the end
\nof the fasting month of Ramadhan in November.<\/p>\n
Downer made clear he did not expect substantive progress on
\nthe Ba'asyir issue or a JI ban during his trip and said effective
\ncounter-terrorism operations were ultimately more important.<\/p>\n
\"It would certainly play well to the international community,
\nit would certainly demonstrate their commitment to fighting
\nterrorism,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
\"But in practice, I think, the task is much more for them to
\nmake sure their counter-terrorism agencies are really well
\ncoordinated and that they are able to get (intelligence) input
\nfrom their foreign partners,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
He declined to say whether an announcement on some sort of new
\numbrella security agency would be made during his two-day visit,
\nwhich his office said would include talks in Jakarta on Wednesday
\nwith President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.<\/p>\n
JI has been accused of involvement in several bombings in
\nIndonesia, including an attack on the Australian embassy in 2004
\nthat killed 10 Indonesians and this month's suicide bombings on
\nBali when four Australians were among the 23 dead.<\/p>\n
Downer said better information sharing among the army, police,
\ncustoms and intelligence services could make a real difference in
\nthe Indonesian archipelago, where travel by boat to and from
\nneighboring countries often went unrecorded and allowed militants
\nto slip in and out of havens in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
\"It's not just a question of knowing who's moving in and out.
\nIt's even having a system where people are reporting that they
\nare moving in and out. It's not as sophisticated as it is at
\nSydney airport,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
Police in several countries have linked JI to al-Qaeda but the
\nIndonesian authorities have argued they cannot ban it since it is
\nnot an established, structured group.<\/p>\n
Downer expressed some understanding for that position.<\/p>\n
\"I've made the point that (a ban) would be a good step forward
\nbut you'd always be having to prove that people belong to an
\norganization which would be hard to prove because they are not
\npaying a subscription or holding a membership card,\" he said.<\/p>",
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