'Regional terrorist training is real'

'Regional terrorist training is real'

Associated Press, Canberra

Australia said on Sunday terrorists were being trained in Indonesia and other southeast Asian countries and that Canberra was working with the United States to reduce the threat they pose to the region.

However, Defense Minister Robert Hill said he did not expect Washington to use military force against them.

"We think there is evidence of some communication and some training of terrorists across into our region, including Indonesia," he told Seven Network television. "And therefore it's ... in the interests of Australians that we work with Indonesia to ensure that there's not a threat to Australia arising out of it."

He said Australia and the United States had exchanged information with Indonesian authorities on the movement of people who have suspected terrorist links. He did not give further details.

Concerns about terrorism in Asia have grown after the arrest of dozens of suspected Muslim extremists in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

Western officials have said terrorist groups with links to al- Qaeda are also operating in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, and Australia's northern neighbor. The officials have accused Indonesia's government of doing too little to clamp down on the groups.

Last month, FBI director Robert Mueller said the United States had clear evidence that members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden were operating in Asia. He said al-Qaeda had tried to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

Also Sunday, Hill said the government expected the United States to allow Australian officials to question an Australian man suspected of having links to al-Qaeda after he is transferred to a U.S. prison camp in Cuba from Afghanistan.

Hill said Mamdouh Habib was due to be moved to Camp X-ray in Guantanamo Bay over the weekend. Habib is the second Australian detained for allegedly training with al-Qaeda.