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.