Thailand to join regional antiterrorism coalition

Thailand to join regional antiterrorism coalition

Associated Press, Phnom Penh

Thailand says it will join Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines in forming an anti-terrorism coalition, broadening a
security alliance in a region regarded as a terrorist breeding
ground.

Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai will sign an
agreement on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) summit being held this week in Phnom Penh, Tej
Bunnag, a senior Thai diplomat, said on Sunday.

Though all five signatories are part of ASEAN, the security
alliance is separate from a joint anti-terrorism declaration that
members of the 10-nation regional grouping are expected to sign
during their annual meeting on Monday and Tuesday.

Determined to send a clear message that the region is safe for
foreign tourists and investors, leaders will discuss expanded
cooperation in countering terrorism, including more information
sharing and possible military assistance, Thaksin said.

"It is possible that one country could help another country
suppress terrorism by force if asked to help," Thaksin said. "But
I think the details of such a joint armed operation would need to
be worked out between the two nations when that occurs."

"This is another channel of cooperation... We all suffer from
terrorism," Tej said.

Under the agreement, member countries are to intensify
exchanges of security information. They plan to establish and
standardize search-and-rescue operations, create hotlines, share
airline passenger lists, strengthen border controls and conduct
joint counter-terrorism exercises.

Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Lauro Baja said his country
would host a meeting in the next few months to set up a committee
to oversee the alliance's anti-terror work.

Another Philippine official said Manila's National Security
Council has proposed an exercise during that meeting where the
countries would try to coordinate efforts to deal with a
hypothetical terrorist strike.

Deadly bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines last month
have stirred fears of more terrorist attacks in the region, which
is increasingly being seen as a new front in the global fight
against terrorism.

The other members of ASEAN are Brunei, Laos, Myanmar,
Singapore and Vietnam.

Cambodia, which hosts the annual meeting, hopes the summit,
the largest international gathering in the country's modern
history, will symbolize its return to respected status in the
world community after nearly three decades of war, Khmer Rouge
revolution and civil conflict.

Potholed streets have been repaved and swept, banners hoisted
across boulevards, and many of the city's colonial-era government
buildings have been given a fresh coat of paint.

But the state of Cambodia's ill-equipped and under-trained law
enforcement agencies has raised concerns about security for the
approximately 1,000 delegates gathering in Phnom Penh for the
two-day summit.

In addition to the 10 ASEAN nations, leaders from China,
Japan, South Korea, India and South Africa will attend, and
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has pledged complete safety.

Security was extremely tight near the summit's venue, a glitzy
hotel in the city's southwest. Streets were barricaded and police
checked even inside wallets and under shoes.

Other main topics to be discussed on the sidelines of the
meeting will be North Korea's nuclear weapons program, officials
said.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will meet with Chinese
Premier Zhu Rongji and South Korean Prime Minister Kim Suk-soo,
Koizumi's spokeswoman Misako Kaji said, adding "as its neighbors,
China and South Korea would be very much interested in North
Korea."

Yutaka Aoki, a spokesman for the Japanese Embassy in Phnom
Penh, said officials are discussing whether to urge the North
stop its nuclear development program. Pyongyang rejected similar
demands during talks with Tokyo last week.

The United States on Friday ruled out any talks with North
Korea until it dismantles the program that U.S. officials say is
capable of producing one or two nuclear weapons.

Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member
nations also called on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear
weapons program last month, adding that economic benefits from
the communist country's growing ties in the region depended on
it.