Brunei postpones plans to sign regional antiterror pact
Brunei postpones plans to sign regional antiterror pact
Agence France-Presse, Phnom Penh
Brunei put off plans at the last minute on Monday to accede to a Southeast Asian agreement to help combat the terrorism threat in the region, citing legal problems.
"We need a little more time due to domestic legal procedures to be resolved," a Brunei official said minutes before the scheduled accession of the kingdom to the Agreement on Information Exchange and Establishment of Communication Procedures.
The pact focuses on sharing intelligence, resources and personnel to fight terrorism.
Host Cambodia had made preparations for the signing ceremony after the opening of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers' meeting here on Monday, where terrorism has been a key topic.
Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia first forged the pact in May last year -- focused on sharing intelligence, resources and personnel to fight terrorism -- before Cambodia and Thailand acceded to the agreement later.
"In principle, we are ready to sign," the Brunei official said, without elaborating on the local legal issues that had cropped up.
He said Brunei would be able to resolve the legal problems before the ASEAN summit in Bali later this year.
The other ASEAN states that have not acceded to the pact are Singapore, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar.
Singapore has also said it wants to study the agreement "quite carefully to see that we comply with all the legal requirements".
Singapore has bilateral security arrangements with Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Arrests in recent weeks in Cambodia and Thailand of alleged members of regional terror network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which is blamed for last October's Bali bombings, have brought the threat of an attack in Southeast Asia back into the spotlight.
Officials said ASEAN and the United States are soon to endorse a five-point counter-terrorism work plan that could see American help to safeguard shipping in the vital Malacca Strait and the sharing of intelligence information.