Security back on ASEAN agenda

Security back on ASEAN agenda

The Nation, Asia News Network, Bangkok

Trips by Thai leaders to Southeast Asian countries took on a
certain predictability in the past decade. The objective was
nearly always to improve trade and economic links, while a
secondary importance was attached to issues such as border
demarcation and territorial problems. Security and intelligence
co-operation -- issues that were the glue for ASEAN during the
Cold War years -- were rarely on the agenda.

That has apparently changed since Sept. 11. Moves to
strengthen intelligence-sharing were at the center of talks
during Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's recent visit to
Indonesia, mirroring increased anti-terrorism cooperation
elsewhere in the region.

The moves are welcome and come amid concern that al-Qaeda and
other terrorist groups may be shifting some of their operations
to Southeast Asia now that they are being forced from Afghanistan
and their traditional safe havens.

There is also evidence that indigenous groups throughout the
region, such as Abu Sayyaf, are increasing their own links. The
involvement of Malaysian extremists in church bombings in
Indonesia is a case in point.

During Thaksin's Indonesia trip, Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai denied that southern Thai Muslims had been supplying
arms to Muslim rebels in Aceh but there is enough evidence that
terrorists, even if they are not basing themselves in Thailand,
are frequently traveling through Bangkok and the South.

There have been, for example, reports that al-Qaeda associates
of the Sept. 11 hijackers visited Bangkok in the last two years.
Last year in Italy, a suspected al-Qaeda member was arrested
trying to stow away in a container aboard a ship bound for
Toronto. According to a Toronto Sun article, the suspect was
carrying an airline mechanic's certificate and had security
passes for airports in Canada, Egypt and Thailand.

It is easy enough to understand why extremist organizations
have set their eyes on the region, which offers terrorists porous
borders, loose banking and money systems, easily available
weapons and counterfeit documents, as well as sympathizers within
the local populations.

It is evident that there are gaping holes in the national
security and immigration-screening procedures that need to be
fixed. The danger such groups pose to Thailand and the region is
clear, ranging from their inherent threat to the lives of
individuals and to national security as a whole, to territorial
integrity through the training of local extremists, and to their
potential to infiltrate and corrupt business sectors and disrupt
the economy.

In the past, ASEAN members have been reluctant to share
intelligence information, but this is changing. Thailand must be
careful in deciding which groups deserve the label of
"terrorist". Many of the groups described by the various
governments in Southeast Asia as enemies of the state do in fact
have legitimate gripes they pursue in a non-violent manner.

The first order though must be for Thailand to get its own
house in order. Terrorists must not be allowed any kind of
presence in the country.