Hassan calls on Singapore to join antiterrorism treaty
Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda called on Singapore on Monday to be consistent with its outspokenness against terrorism and join an antiterrorism pact with fellow ASEAN countries.
Cambodia and Thailand have recently joined the antiterrorism pact between Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, and Hassan said Singapore should have no problem following suit.
"We encourage Singapore which has been vocal in talking about terrorism to join," he said following the installation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation's (ASEAN) new secretary- general Ong Keng Yong on Monday.
"If Singapore is consistent with what it says, I think there shouldn't be any difficulty for Singapore to be a member of the pact," Hassan said.
Signed in May last year, the antiterrorism agreement centers on intelligence sharing and cross-border operations.
Indonesia and the Philippines are both grappling with domestic terrorist groups, and although Malaysia has been relative safe, a number of militants have been known to have found shelter there.
During Hassan's recent visit to Manila, Indonesia and the Philippines agreed to extend the agreement to the rest of the ASEAN members: Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.
"We hope that Singapore will be joining us soon," Hassan said.
The city state has been a staunch campaigner against terrorism since Sept. 11, and once warned that Indonesia would become a breeding ground for terrorists unless it took strong actions to eradicate terrorism.
The Oct. 12 Bali bombing last year added to the urgency for greater regional cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Police here have named two Malaysian suspects in connection with the bombing and they believe that the group Jamaah Islamyiah (JI) had played a role in it.
JI aims to establish a Southeast Asian Islamic state covering Indonesia, Singapore Malaysia and the Philippines.
Police here have linked several Indonesians to JI and the group is said to also have bases in Singapore and Malaysia.
Singapore has arrested 31 alleged members of JI and is due to publish a white paper on the organization this week. The city- state once did express interest in signing the pact, saying it would like to study it.
The antiterror pact allows members to join antiterrorism exercises, combined operations to hunt suspected terrorists, the setting up of hotlines and sharing of airline passenger lists.
Asked what he thought was deterring Singapore from joining the pact, Hassan cited overlapping points under the pact and an ASEAN committee on transnational crime.
"But I don't think this (the overlapping) should diminish the need to join the agreement," Hassan said. "The overlapping in certain matters actually reinforces it."
The committee on transnational crime covers piracy and money laundering aside from terrorism.
"I think all the 10 ASEAN countries have already accepted that this (terrorism) is a very serious threat to the stability and the economic development of the region," ASEAN secretary-general Ong told reporters.
A former spokesman for Singapore's foreign ministry, Ong said Singapore was very cooperative on terrorism issues but that most of these agreements with foreign agencies were confidential.
"Even without the trilateral agreement we are all cooperating; everyone in ASEAN," he said.
"We will see if it's necessary to have an agreement, an ASEAN framework to cooperate, I think we will work toward that. But at the moment we must encourage more exchange of information and direct contacts among police," he said.