RI asks Thailand to quash arms smuggling to NAD

RI asks Thailand to quash arms smuggling to NAD

Agencies, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri urged the Thai government on
Friday to take stern action against arms smuggling from Southern
Thailand to the war-torn province of Aceh and stop the
infiltration of rebels fleeing the province into Thailand.

In a joint press conference with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, Megawati said that "Indonesia is hopeful that
Thailand will help narrow down the activities of Aceh's
separatist movement."

The rebels have "perpetrated terrorist acts and infiltrated
Thai territories," Megawati told a joint news conference after
the bilateral talk on Friday.

Although Indonesian officials had said in the past that
Acehnese rebels were seeking refuge in Thailand's south, this was
the first time the warning had come from the highest level.

Megawati -- who had arrived earlier on a three-day visit --
also said that Indonesia and Thailand were determined to jointly
carry out the war against all forms of terrorism.

Indonesia had earlier urged Thailand to hunt down one of the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders, Zakariah Zaman -- suspected to
have resided in the country -- and to stop the flow of arms from
Southern Thailand.

The request was made in a bid to strengthen the ongoing
military operations in Aceh, where GAM rebels have been fighting
for independence for the province since 1976. Over 10,000 people,
mostly innocent civilians, have been killed since then.

Thaksin vowed Thailand would assist in the crack-down on arms
smuggling into Aceh, which has been under martial law since May
as part of efforts to overwhelm the separatist rebel movement.

"We will fully cooperate with Indonesian authorities on this
matter," he said.

Acehnese rebels have become one of Megawati's main concerns in
her four-day visit to Malaysia and Thailand.

Earlier speaking with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad, she asked for the government to carefully asses hundreds
of Acehnese seeking asylum in Malaysia.

Megawati thanked Thailand for arresting Indonesian terror
suspect Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali earlier this month,
calling him one of "the prominent figures in the international
terrorist network."

Hambali, who is said to be the operations chief of al Qaeda's
regional affiliate, Jamaah Islamiyah, is now being interrogated
by U.S. investigators at a secret location.

He is accused of having orchestrated two major terrorist
attacks in Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim nation, in the
past year -- last October's Bali nightclub blasts and the Aug. 5
attack on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta.

"Indonesia and Thailand are determined to intensify
cooperation in the fight against terrorism, including through the
exchange of intelligence and information," Megawati said.

She and Thaksin earlier held more than one hour of talks
during which terrorism, trade and other joint projects were
discussed.

Thaksin did not comment on the Acehnese rebels specifically,
but said he and Megawati had "agreed on closer cooperation in
combating terrorism in the region."

He said they had discussed the possibility of holding a joint
meeting of the Thai and Indonesian Cabinets, as well as ways to
further enhance cooperation in fisheries, rubber, investment,
energy and tourism.

Megawati used her three-day official visit to Thailand to
press Indonesia's proposal for a regional security community to
help thwart terrorism.

Megawati is pushing for an ASEAN (Association of Southeast
Asia Nations) body to enhance security in Southeast Asia. She
took her proposal on Thursday to Mahathir, with whom she also
agreed to step up anti-terror cooperation.

Immediately after the briefing, Megawati departed to the
seaside resort of Hua Hin, to pay an evening courtesy call to
Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit.

Megawati will travel on Saturday to the northern city of
Chiang Mai -- where Thaksin will play host -- before leaving for
Indonesia on Sunday morning.