Police strengthen anti-terror cooperation with Singapore
Agencies, Jakarta
Indonesia and Singapore agreed on Friday to strengthen cooperation in fighting rampant attacks by pirates on ships and tankers in the Malacca Straits, the world busiest shipping lane which separates the two neighbors.
"A rise in the number of piracy attacks in the Straits of Malacca as well as the seas around Indonesia is a concern to all of us because so much of the world's trade passes through this sea line of communications," Tan said as quoted by AFP after meeting Megawati.
The Malacca Strait, a narrow waterway straddling Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, is notorious for piracy. Experts warned recently that terrorists could be roaming the waterway to hijack ships.
The strait, which links the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and the Pacific, is crucial to export-driven Southeast Asia.
Tan highlighted that attacks by pirates were not only becoming more frequent, but they were also using more lethal equipment like machine guns.
He also said that Indonesia, Singapore and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would also work together to combat piracy through a multilateral program initiated by Japan.
Japan, which imports most of its crude oil via the pirate- infested strait, pledged on Dec. 10 to help Indonesia fight sea piracy, saying keeping sea lanes free of piracy was vital for regional development.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told Megawati during a meeting in Tokyo last week that increased international policing was needed to wipe out the scourge.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Navy chief Adm. Bernard Sondakh, said the navy would boost patrols in the Malacca Straits to fight pirates.
"We will increase our number of commandos at Batam navy base. We will boost our patrols to fight the pirates. We are also cooperating together on a multilateral basis," he said.
Later in the day the Indonesian Police and Singaporean Police agreed to boost cooperation in fighting terrorism that could potentially spread across the borders between the two countries.
National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko said after the meeting between Tan and Indonesian Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar the two countries would tighten security along the borders in a bid to prevent any act of terrorism.
Soenarko said both national police forces would increase the border patrols to enable the police to look out for the smuggling of guns and explosives that could be used for terrorist activities.
"We agree to cooperate to intensively guard the borders. We will carefully examine people and materials that cross the borders," said Soenarko.
However, the Indonesian police failed to raise the issue of the main suspect in the BNI scandal, Maria Pauline Lumowa, as well as the issue of extradition agreement in the meeting.
"No, we didn't talk about Maria or any other issues aside from terrorism," said Soenarko.
Maria has been named a suspect in the Rp 1.7 trillion bank scam and is staying in Singapore to avoid police arrest. Indonesia and Singapore have no extradition treaty.