Regional forum adopts measures to choke off terrorist financing
Regional forum adopts measures to choke off terrorist financing
Chris Foley, Agence France-Presse, Bandar Seri Begawan
The Asia-Pacific's foremost security umbrella group, the ASEAN
Regional Forum (ARF), on Wednesday outlined a blueprint designed
to choke off funding for terrorists.
A raft of measures, including banking controls and a freeze on
assets, was approved by delegates at a working dinner on Tuesday,
on the eve of the ARF annual meeting.
The 23-member foreign minister-level grouping includes the
United States, Russia, China, Japan and the European Union, as
well as the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
states.
"In the interests of global peace and security, the
participants in the ARF are determined to stop the financing of
terrorism," the statement said.
"We have therefore today endorsed a statement of our intention
to work individually and in concert to prevent terrorists and
their associates from accessing or using our financial systems
and to stop abuse of informal banking networks."
The ARF statement is one of several counter-terrorism
initiatives being released during a week of ministerial meetings
in Brunei.
On Tuesday, ASEAN foreign ministers issued a declaration
announcing a determination to "enhance counter-terrorism
cooperation", and on Thursday they will sign a cooperation pact
with the United States.
China has also announced plans for regular East Asia
ministerial meetings to discuss terrorism and transnational
crime.
"Terrorism has been very much the focus of the meeting.
There's been quite a lot of work going on behind the scenes in
the ARF in addressing the question," Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer said.
A spokesman for Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda
said there was an underlying feeling that more should be done in
the fight against terror.
"All delegates were one in expressing condemnation of
terrorist acts," the spokesman, R.M. Marty, said.
"They were all satisfied in what we have done in the past
years but they wish to do more."
The ARF statement on Wednesday commits its 23 members to
"freeze without delay the assets of terrorists and their
associates and close their access to the international financial
system".
Each member of ARF "should establish promptly" a financial
intelligence unit to beef up information sharing.
It will also require members to "make public the lists of
terrorists whose assets are subject to freezing and the amount of
assets frozen", and urges anti-money-laundering bodies to
promptly expand their mandates to include terrorist financing.
"We will ensure that our financial institutions and citizens
comply with measures to combat the financing of terrorism and
other financial crimes, and will assist them to do so."
To ensure the message gets through, the ARF says it is
committed to assisting countries "that need help in implementing
necessary laws, regulations and policies to combat terrorist
financing and money laundering".
Downer said the ARF was encouraging its members to adhere to
various UN conventions covering the financing of terrorism and
developed nations would "provide some technical assistance if
there is a request".
European Union foreign policy envoy Javier Solana described
the statement as a good step addressing money "flowing to
terrorist organizations and the question of money-laundering in
relation to terrorism".
ARF includes the 10 ASEAN states, along with Australia,
Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New
Zealand, South Korea, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russia and
the United States.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.