SE Asian leaders vow fearless actions

SE Asian leaders vow fearless actions

Agence France-Presse, Los Cabos, Mexico

Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Philippines President Gloria Arroyo on Saturday vowed a no-tolerance policy against the terrorism which has cut deep into their economically vital tourism industries.

Megawati warned in a speech to business leaders assembled for the APEC meeting, that determined, fearless actions against terrorism was the only option.

"If panic and fears continue to rise, it would in turn encourage the terrorists to win their objectives and expand their activities," she said.

"Clearly, we must fight terrorism that might take place wherever, whenever and by whoever," she said.

The Indonesian leader has previously been criticized for not doing enough to curb religious fundamentalism inside her country, which has the largest Muslim population of any nation in the world.

In her speech to the businesspeople, Megawati warned that terrorism had severe economic consequences, as it had led many governments to warn their citizens from traveling to Indonesia.

"Consequently, our tourism industry, as one of the important pillars of economic restoration has received a heavy blow," Megawati said. "(I hope) that such travel bans ... will soon be lifted."

Several countries have also issued warnings against traveling to Thailand, another tourism-dependent APEC member.

Australia on Friday warned its citizens again to "exercise extreme caution" in commercial and public areas frequented by foreigners in Thailand, but specifically mentioned the popular southern resort of Phuket for the first time.

Japan had also issued a statement warning Japanese tourists to be vigilant in Thailand.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Saturday there was no clear threat of a terrorist attack in Thailand, but his government was taking highest level precautionary measures.

"As of now there has not been any clear intelligence that terrorists plan to attack our country. Foreign countries have done their duty by issuing travel warnings, and we will do our duty too by not being reckless," Thaksin said.

"My government is taking the highest precautionary measures. Don't panic because of the warnings," he said.

New Zealand has bucked the trend and said it was "not aware of any specific threat to New Zealanders or New Zealand interests in Thailand, and is therefore not advising New Zealanders against traveling there".

Speaking on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos, Arroyo urged greater cooperation among nations to fight the threat posed by terrorism.

"Terrorism is a global fight, because it is borderless," she told reporters. "And so, we should not sit back and wait them for a strike."

APEC is meant to primarily deal with economic and trade matters, but like last year's summit in Shanghai -- happening just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks -- terrorism has also topped the agenda this year.

Terrorism has recently emerged as a growing threat in Asia. Only two weeks ago, a carbomb blast on the Indonesian resort island of Bali killed more than 180 people, mostly Australian tourists.

Arroyo, an academic who has nurtured a tough-girl image in the fight not just against terrorism but also crime, warned that the war on terror would be comprehensive and lengthy.

"We have to strengthen our coalition against terrorism, we have to share intelligence, we have to work on aviation security and energy security -- all kinds of ways," she told reporters. "It's going to be a long war."

In another development, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Arroyo have agreed to boost intelligence cooperation to combat terrorism following a spate of attacks in the Asian region, a Filipino official said Sunday.

A suggestion by Howard to increase the "security arrangement" between the two countries was "well received" by Arroyo during a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Los Cabos, Mexico, Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

"They discussed security arrangement and Prime Minister Howard suggested that Australia and the Philippines (work together in) sharing of intelligence information and that was well received," by Arroyo, Bunye said on local television.