ASEAN nations 'must be open'

ASEAN nations 'must be open'

Southeast Asian countries should be open with each other in discussing regional security, which otherwise could be compromised by their grouping's policy of noninterference, the Malaysian foreign minister said on Friday.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) cannot remain fixated on its principle of not interfering in each other's internal affairs because terrorism in one country can have a profound effect on its neighbors, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

"ASEAN countries have to be very open now. We cannot just limit things that happen within our borders as our internal affairs," Syed Hamid told reporters.

He did not say what kind of openness Malaysia would like to see in discussions on security, but was apparently referring to intelligence sharing and asking neighboring governments to crack down on extremist groups deemed to be a cross-border threat.

"We have to look at external effects because sometimes (events) outside the region can be used by some extremist groups as an excuse to commit terror or acts of violence beyond their borders," he said.

Malaysia itself faces the cross-border terrorism dilemma with neighboring Thailand, whose southern provinces are in the grip of a separatist insurgency.

The Thai government claims that the extremists, who have dual Thai and Malaysian nationalities, often cross over to Malaysia to seek refuge after staging attacks. The two governments have set aside the principle of noninterference to discuss the problem openly.

As a demonstration of its commitment to curbing the extremist problem, Malaysia said on Wednesday it will set up a new patrol regiment to curb intrusions, smuggling and other transnational crimes on its border with Thailand.

Syed Hamid said he hoped for more discussions on security issues in future in ASEAN forums. He said a recent meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Batam, Indonesia, discussed not only security in the pirate-infested Straits of Malacca but also surrounding areas such as waters off Thailand and the Philippines.

Syed Hamid also expressed disappointment at the recent decision of Lloyds - an international shipping insurance company - to put the Straits of Malacca on its list of war-risk areas, which increased premiums on shipping insurance.

"They consider it like a war zone area. I think that's a bit of exaggeration. We are disappointed because we were never consulted," he said. -- AP