RI gets good marks for its war on terrorism

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.