SE Asian leaders step up fight against terrorism

SE Asian leaders step up fight against terrorism

P. Parameswaran, Agence France Presse, Phnom Penh

Southeast Asian leaders announced measures on Saturday to step-up
their fight against terrorism but also criticized Western
government travel warnings issued against the region.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretary-
general Rodolfo Severino told AFP that a joint statement on
terrorism would be released during the group's annual summit that
begins here on Monday to express concern over the recent spate of
deadly attacks in Indonesia and the Philippines.

"They will stress their commitment to antiterrorism and say
that ASEAN is doing practical things to combat terrorism,"
Severino said.

As part of its boosted efforts, Severino said ASEAN would sign
a memorandum of understanding with China to cooperate on
transnational crime, which would cover terrorism.

Thailand's foreign affairs permanent secretary, Tej Bunnag,
also told AFP that about five major ASEAN meetings would be held
over the next 12 months, some of which would also include China,
Japan and South Korea, to intensify regional cooperation against
terrorism.

And Philippines foreign affairs department undersecretary
Lauro Baja said an antiterrorism center would be set up in
Malaysia.

However Severino said Southeast Asian leaders felt Western
governments, especially through their travel advisories, were
unfairly labeling the region as excessively dangerous.

"I think there is an unconscious effort to identify Southeast
Asia with terrorism because of the large number of Muslims in
this area," he said.

"It is true there are terrorist cells -- whether they are
international or homegrown -- in Southeast Asia," Severino said.

"But we also know that there are such terrorist cells in
Britain and Germany but nobody is calling, or issuing, advisories
about travel in Germany and Britain."

Thailand's Tej also hit out at the Western travel advisories
while Baja said the issue would be raised in the joint
declaration on terrorism.

"We think these travel advisories are indiscriminate, they
have no established evidence and I think all ASEAN countries are
affected in the same way," Tej said.

The ASEAN officials' comments came as U.S. authorities warned
that they feared a repeat of last month's bomb blasts on
Indonesia's holiday island of Bali that left at least 190 people
dead, many of them Australians.

"In the aftermath of the terrorist bombings in Bali, the
possibility exists that similar attacks may occur in other
Southeast Asian nations," the U.S. State Department said in a
statement.

"The Department is concerned that individuals and groups may
be planning terrorist actions against United States citizens and
interests, as well as sites frequented by Westerners."

Aside from the Oct. 12 blast in Bali, which Western nations
and some Indonesian officials have linked to Osama bin Laden's
al-Qaeda terror network and its regional allies, 23 people were
killed in the Philippines last month in bomb attacks blamed on
terrorists.

Western governments issued travel warnings for most Southeast
Asian nations recently, including Indonesia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. China,
South Korea, Japan, India and South Africa will also participate
in concurrent meetings at the ASEAN summit.