Indonesia signs UN

Indonesia signs UN
convention on terrorism

By Fabiola Desy Unidjaja
The jakarta Post
in New York

Foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda signed a United Nations
convention on combating terrorism at the UN headquarters here on
Monday (Tuesday Jakarta time).

With the signing of the 1999 International Convention for the
Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, Indonesia became the
45th country to accept it.

Hassan promised to share more intelligence information with
other Southeast Asian nations.

The minister also signed protocols outlawing the use of child
soldiers and protecting children against the sex trade.

He said Indonesia had long been considering signing the anti-
terrorism convention and it was not solely a response to the
deadly Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.

"It is not merely because of the New York and Washington
incidents, but much more than that. We have even been thinking of
taking action in respect of other possible international crimes,"
Hassan said.

Within the framework of the convention, Jakarta would try to
increase intelligence coordination with fellow members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other
countries.

"This is an expression of the Indonesian government joining
the international effort to prevent terrorism," Hassan said,
adding that the signing of the convention was necessary to
strengthen Indonesia's armory of legal instruments.

The immigration department and police would have access to
training courses to monitor and detect money laundering, arms
smuggling, people trafficking and the channeling of funds, he
said.

"As soon as the convention is ratified by the House of
Representatives (DPR), it will become part of Indonesian law.
But, of course, it will need further executory regulations in
domestic law," Hassan said.

Indonesia is now the second ASEAN country after the
Philippines to have signed the convention.

The convention obliges the contracting states to closely
monitor the collection or receipt of money by organizations in
support of terrorist activities in another country.

It also requires the contracting states to freeze and prevent
access to such funds by groups supporting terrorist
organizations, and also to prosecute or extradite persons found
guilty of involvement in such activities for terrorist
organizations.

Indonesia has seen a spate of bombings in several cities in
recent years. Blasts rocked a shopping mall in Central Jakarta on
Sunday but caused no casualties.

Megawati is currently on a nine-day visit to the U.S. She is
the first leader of a Muslim country to visit the country since
the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington on Sept.
11.

She also held talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at UN
headquarters on Monday.

Hassan said Annan expressed support for Indonesia's call to
address the terrorism issue in the region.

"President Megawati underlined that terrorism has become one
of the major issues in Indonesia and that she spoke about it with
the ASEAN leaders during her recent visit to the nine member
countries of ASEAN," Hassan said at a press briefing on Monday.

Hassan described the meeting as "very warm", and it was
followed by a 10-minute closed door meeting.

Annan also expressed his support for Indonesia's territorial
integrity, especially concerning the separatist problems in Aceh
and Irian Jaya, Hassan said.

In addition, Megawati and Annan discussed the East Timor
issue, with the later expressing support for Indonesia's stance
of developing a realistic, forward-looking and reconciliatory
relationship between Indonesia and the future state of East
Timor.

To accommodate the return of international agencies to West
Timor, Indonesia would work closely with the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees to settle the refugee issue, Hassan said.

"President Megawati also mentioned the assets problems in the
former province of East Timor, along with other outstanding
problems," he said.

Megawati is scheduled to have a meeting with former U.S.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Tuesday (Wednesday in
Jakarta) before flying to Japan to meet Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi.