RP seeks to tighten border with Indonesia

RP seeks to tighten border with Indonesia

Agencies, Manila

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pledged on Tuesday to work more closely with Indonesia to police the two countries' porous border, saying her government would make every effort to rescue an Indonesian hostage.

"We are doing everything within our means to secure the safe release of the remaining captive," Arroyo said in her opening statement at a meeting with visiting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as quoted by Reuters.

"We hope that we could take this opportunity to look at other areas, where we can work together to prevent such incidents from happening again."

Last week, Philippine security forces rescued two of three Indonesian sailors held captive since March by Muslim militants on the southwestern island of Jolo.

Arroyo said the kidnapping incident served as a lesson for the two countries to cooperate on maritime border issues, such as anti-terrorism, anti-piracy and transnational crime.

She said the two countries could do more by resolving a long- standing border dispute and by securing a new fisheries agreement.

"Our unique maritime context could work for or against us," she said. "It could keep us apart or bring us closer, depending on how we deal with it."

Susilo, elected as president last September, did not issue any comment on his meeting with Arroyo.

Analysts and security officials say Indonesian militants belonging to the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) group have taken advantage of the porous southern border to travel virtually unchecked between Indonesia and the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

JI is believed to have used Mindanao as a training base and a refuge where it has forged informal alliances with Philippine Muslim rebels.

The national police chiefs of the two countries met on Tuesday to strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation, particularly in tracking down two Indonesian militants suspected to be behind the October 2002 attacks in Bali that killed 202 people.

Philippine military said Umar Patek and Dulmatin had been hiding in Mindanao since 2003, coddled by a radical faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim rebel group.

MILF has denied links with JI, the alleged front of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network that is seeking to create a Southeast Asian Islamic state.

Indonesian national police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said he has been given intelligence by Philippine police officials about the recent sightings of the two top JI bombers.

"I don't know exactly how many people from Indonesia, especially members of the JI, are here but I heard and I've received information about that," Da'i told The Associated Press. "We're looking for members of the JI who are still here."

The two forces would enhance existing bilateral cooperation agreements for "preventing and suppressing terrorist activities," a Philippine police statement said.

They would coordinate the "apprehension as well as interrogation of apprehended suspected criminals and terrorists," and share "technical and operational expertise."

The two police chiefs also agreed to a "regular exchange of information and fugitives."

Arroyo also asked Susilo to support Manila's proposal to adopt a more binding regional code of conduct in the South China Sea among the six nations that claim ownership of the mineral-rich Spratlys.

China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines have claimed all or parts of the string of atolls and islets.