3 ASEAN members sign antiterrorism pact

3 ASEAN members sign antiterrorism pact

JAKARTA: Indonesia will cooperate with Malaysia and the
Philippines in an antiterrorism pact which will enable extensive
cooperation in combating terrorism in the area, foreign affairs
minister Hassan Wirayuda said on Monday.

"The cooperation will be about the exchange of information,
joint operations as well as extraditions between the countries,"
he told reporters at Merdeka Palace after accompanying President
Megawati Soekarnoputri in receiving New Zealand Prime Minister
Helen Clark.

The signing will take place in Kuala Lumpur at a ministerial
level on Tuesday.

Participating countries have expressed optimism about
cooperating to fight terrorism, saying such efforts should be
done collectively.

"There is no doubt that it is regional security that will help
us deter and defeat terrorism in Southeast Asia," Philippine
national defense secretary Angelo Reyes said in Kuala Lumpur on
Monday. --Antara