RI gets good marks for its war on terrorism
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia, a major victim of terrorism, received good marks during an international conference in Semarang, Central Java, on promoting international cooperation on counterterrorism for its strong determination to wage a war against terrorism.
While supporting Indonesia's efforts to battle terrorism, the 3rd ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Conference on Counterterrorism, which was held from Nov. 14 to Nov. 15, considered plans to set up a computerized alert system on terrorist threats among ASEM partners.
"The conference acknowledged Indonesia's resolute efforts in combating terrorism. Particularly, the recent breakthrough in tracking down the terrorists in Indonesia was a success of international cooperation in developing capacity-building and capability through the sharing of technology, know-how and intelligence information," Yuli Mumpuni, director for American and European intra-regional cooperation, said in an e-mail sent to The Jakarta Post.
The two-day conference was attended by 95 delegates from the two continents as well as representatives from the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation, South East Asia Regional Center for Counter-Terrorism, Interpol and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Sponsored by Indonesia, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the European Commission, the conference was held only four days after the most wanted terrorist in the region, Azahari bin Husin, was killed during a police raid near Malang, East Java.
Azahari, who holds a doctorate from the University of Reading in Great Britain, was believed to be the mastermind behind several terror attacks in the country over the last three years.
Currently, the Indonesian Police are still striving hard to catch another terrorist, Noordin M. Top, and his associates following the death of Azahari.
The Semarang conference, which was opened by Director General for American and European Affairs Arizal Effendi, and chaired by Rhousdy Soeriaatmadja, head of international cooperation at the Indonesian Coordinating Counterterrorism Desk, was a follow-up to the ASEM Declaration on Cooperation against International Terrorism issued at the fourth ASEM summit in Copenhagen in 2002.
The two regions have so far hosted three conferences. The first ASEM conference was held in Beijing in 2003, which came up with a plan to set up a network of ASEM antiterrorism contact points, while the second meeting was held in Berlin in 2004.
The statement said that the Semarang conference also evaluated the progress of ASEM cooperation on counterterrorism as agreed in Berlin, such as cooperation on border controls and security, enhancing law enforcement cooperation, and cooperation among regional centers in counterterrorism.
The delegations from the two regions are also scheduled to meet in Copenhagen in 2006. Results of the Semarang and Copenhagen conference will be presented at the Sixth ASEM Summit in Finland in 2006.