Southeast Asian leaders vow no tolerance on terrorist threat

Southeast Asian leaders vow no tolerance on terrorist threat

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.