RP calls for stepped up intelligence sharing<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nManila\/Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
The Philippines on Friday urged Southeast Asian countries to step
\nup intelligence and information sharing, saying a deadly bombing
\nin Indonesia shows the terrorist threat continues.<\/p>\n
\"We may have continued to score big against terrorists, but
\nthe attack at the Australian Embassy in Indonesia's capital
\nclearly indicates that the challenge is indeed far from over,\"
\npresidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\"There is need to further strengthen intelligence and
\ninformation-sharing across our regional neighborhood,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesian authorities have vowed to hunt down suspected
\nMuslim militants behind Thursday's blast, which killed nine
\npeople and wounded 173.<\/p>\n
Philippine troops and police went on full alert after the
\nblast amid fears of terrorism linked to the anniversary of the
\nSept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.<\/p>\n
Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza, commander of military troops in
\nmetropolitan Manila, said soldiers have augmented police guarding
\neight embassies - including the United States, Canadian, Japanese
\nand European Union missions - as well as the homes of three
\nambassadors who requested added security. The Australian Embassy
\nis being guarded by a police security task force.<\/p>\n
In a separate development, Malaysia tightened entry points on
\nFriday to keep watch for two long-sought Malaysian militants who
\nare believed to have built the car bomb that exploded outside
\nAustralia's embassy in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Azahari Husin, a British-trained engineer, and Noordin
\nMohammed Top disappeared from Malaysia three years ago during a
\ncrackdown against the al-Qaeda-allied Jamaah Islamiyah terror
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
They have since been linked to blasts on Indonesia's Bali
\nisland that killed 202 people in October 2002, and to last year's
\nsuicide bombing that killed 12 at the J.W. Marriott hotel in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Malaysian security officials told The Associated Press on
\ncondition of anonymity that surveillance at entry points -
\nalready stepped up after the pair eluded an Indonesian dragnet
\nearlier this year - was being reinforced.<\/p>\n
\"We are also strengthening intelligence gathering with our
\ncounterparts in the region to prevent a spillover from
\nIndonesia,\" an official said.<\/p>\n
Azahari and Noordin are believed to be under the protection of
\nsome JI supporters in Indonesia, but Malaysia has long suspected
\nthey might try to return home.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, New Zealand offered police forensic investigators
\nto Indonesia on Friday in the wake of the bomb blast that killed
\nat least nine people outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Helen Clark New Zealand was appalled by the car
\nbomb that exploded in front of the embassy building, killing nine
\nand wounding 173.<\/p>\n
With a special focus on terrorism in Asia, Australia, Britain,
\nMalaysia, New Zealand and Singapore began the largest joint
\nmilitary drills in years on Friday.<\/p>\n
Thirty-one naval ships, 60 military aircraft, two submarines
\nand 3,500 soldiers began the first of 16 days of exercises in the
\nSouth China Sea as part of an aggressive upgrading of a 30-year-
\nold Five Powers Defense Arrangements (FPDA) pact.<\/p>\n
Thursday's bomb attack outside Australia's embassy in Jakarta
\nthat killed nine people provided a bloody reminder of why the
\npact, established in 1971 primarily to protect Malaysia and
\nSingapore from invasion, needed to be brought up to date.<\/p>\n
\"The horrific bombing in Jakarta yesterday is yet another grim
\nreminder that terrorism is a clear and present danger in this
\nregion,\" Singapore's chief of defense, Ng Yat Chung, told
\nmilitary staff from the five countries in a speech.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Australian Ambassador Ruth Pearce said
\nsecurity measures and procedures were further strengthened at the
\nembassy following the blast in Jakarta with security personnel at
\nthe building housing the mission \"exercising extra vigilance.\"
\nShe did not elaborate.<\/p>\n
Troops and plainclothes intelligence agents were deployed in
\n21 other strategic places in the capital, including shopping
\nmalls, bus stations, ports and the business district, Braganza
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Sea marshals with bomb-sniffing dogs were boarding commercial
\nvessels leaving Manila to deter possible attacks by terrorists or
\npirates, officials said.<\/p>\n
The Philippines has been battling armed groups, including the
\nal-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, Marxist rebels and Muslim
\nseparatists, and is considered a likely terror target.<\/p>\n
More stories on Page 10<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rp-calls-for-stepped-up-intelligence-sharing-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }