RI, Australia to open antiterror center

RI, Australia to open antiterror center

Agencies Denpasar, Bali

Australia and Indonesia announced on Thursday the planned establishment of an antiterror center in an effort to fight groups like the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his country would give A$38.3 million (US$29.5 million) to the Indonesia Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation.

"We'll be putting A$38.3 million over five years into that center," he was quoted by AFP as saying on the sidelines of a regional counterterrorism conference on the resort island of Bali.

Downer said Australia was seeking donations from other countries for the center that would provide information and training for cash-strapped governments fighting terror groups.

An Indonesian figure would head the staff of the center that will include 20 Australians, most of them federal police officers, and will be based in Jakarta, he said.

"Its task will not only be to help ourselves (Australia and Indonesia) with training, but also others in the region who want to take advantage of this resource," he said as quoted by AP.

The center is expected to be operational by the end of 2004, Downer said, while the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa talked of an earlier start date.

"We are talking more of weeks, rather than months, I think. At least the embryo of the thing," he told AFP.

Downer said the center would not only be helping with the investigation of Jamaah Islamiyah, but also its links with al- Qaeda and other terrorist organizations like the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines.

The center is expected to offer training in forensics, bomb disposal and other antiterror techniques, and to provide an information clearinghouse.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said it would also be able to provide direct help such as post-blast analysis after a terrorist attack.

He said he expected experts at the center to be drawn not only from Australia but from around the world. In the last 24 hours he said he held "very fruitful" discussions with Dutch, British and Canadian officials.

"So it would seem that the center has grabbed people's attention and it would seem that it's likely we're going to get some contributions," Keelty said.

Japanese national police also seem keen to contribute, he added.

Downer said the center would institutionalize the Indonesia- Australia cooperation that began during the Bali bombing investigation.

Both countries worked together to probe the Oct. 12, 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians.

The teamwork has led to the arrest of most of those responsible for the bombings and has damaged Jamaah Islamiyah, which was also blamed for the Aug. 5, 2003 attack that claimed 12 lives at Jakarta's J.W. Marriott Hotel.

The United States has also provided Indonesia with millions of dollars for antiterror training and equipment, including the establishment of a special police antiterror squad.

Indonesia's National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said it would focus on improving antiterror cooperation in a practical way. "So far we have only talked about co-operation in spirit and discourse but where is the implementation?" he said.