Malaysia, RP begin maritime exercise
Malaysia, RP begin maritime exercise
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
Hundreds of security personnel and a few warships from Malaysia
and neighboring Philippines began on Sunday a six-day military
exercise to wipe out terror activities such as piracy.
The naval maneuver along their common waters is being
conducted in Sulu Sea off Malaysia's eastern Sabah state on
Borneo island where piracy, illegal fishing using bombs,
hijacking and smuggling are rampant.
"The purpose of the annual maritime exercise is to prevent
illegal activities and to stop entry of Filipino illegal
immigrants," First Adm. Noor Aziz Yunan, maritime director of the
Malaysian navy, told AFP.
Up to half a million Filipinos live in Sabah, many of them
having entered illegally to work in the resources-rich territory.
Malaysia has deported thousands of Filipinos in recent months.
The exercise which ends on May 17, is the seventh Malaysia-
Philippines joint maritime coordinated border patrol, codenamed
"Phimal V11/2002.
Malaysia is to deploy two patrol vessels along with patrol
craft of the marine police and customs department.
Noor Aziz said some 500 personnel from both countries would
participate in the exercise.
The Philippines would deploy one navy patrol vessel and two
gunboats, officials said.
The joint exercise would also provide security personnel an
opportunity to exchange and share intelligence, Noor Aziz said.
On Tuesday, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines sealed a
trilateral security pact in a bid to bolster cooperation to
combat terrorism and cross-border crime in the region.
A statement issued by Malaysia said a framework would be
established for "closer and more intensive collaboration" to
combat transnational crimes, cross-border illegal activities and
terrorism.
In a related development, Southeast Asian security ministers
will assemble in Malaysia for two days from May 20 to chart ways
to improve cooperation in the war against terrorism.
Malaysia's home (interior) ministry described the meeting as a
first step by Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in
response to the call by the international community to enhance
cooperation at the national, regional and international level and
for global action against terrorism threats.
In conjunction with the meeting, the annual ASEAN Senior
Officials Meeting would be held for two days beginning May 16,
the official Bernama news agency said late Saturday.
The Southeast Asian ministers meeting comes just after
Malaysia played host to the Organization of Islamic Conference
terrorism meeting in April.