Wibisono heads APEC's terrorism task force

Agencies, Singapore

A senior Indonesian diplomat, Makarim Wibisono, has been appointed to head a counter-terrorism task force of the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the group's secretariat said on Saturday.

Wibisono, 57, a former Indonesian permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), said the task force will coordinate efforts by APEC and other international organizations to combat the terrorist threat.

"It is my expectation that the APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force will act as a liaison body to generate synergy between APEC and other international organizations confronting terrorism," he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Singapore-based APEC secretariat.

"Several APEC member economies have experienced first-hand the pain and horror of terrorism, and all 21 APEC members are committed to confronting the terrorist threat," Wibisono said.Wibisono's country, Indonesia, was the target of a deadly terrorist attack in October last year when a bomb attack on twonightspots on the resort island of Bali killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.

The explosion has been blamed on the Jamaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asia-based group with alleged links to al-Qaeda, the global terror network of Osama bin Laden.Wibisono said among the priorities of the task force was to draw up measures to protect international shipping and aviation as well as choking terrorist finances.

The first meeting of the task force will be in Khon Kaen in Thailand next month, the statement said.APEC is the main forum for promoting trade and investment in theAsia-Pacific region.

APEC's 21 economies encompass 2.5 billion people and make up half the world's trade.It groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong,Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.