The West Australian
1st March 2009
ASEAN states will intensify efforts to fight militants and pledge to work for the full implementation of a regional counter-terrorism pact this year, according to a draft document.
The document, seen by AFP on Saturday, is to be adopted by the Association of South-East Asian Nations leaders at the end of an annual summit on Sunday.
It says the bloc will "promote effective implementation" of a comprehensive plan of action to fight terrorism and cooperate to address its root causes.
South-East Asia is the base for Jemaah Islamiyah, the militant network blamed for a string of bloody attacks in the region including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people - many of them foreign tourists.
Muslim separatist insurgencies are meanwhile being waged in southern Thailand and on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
The counter-terrorism plan is contained in a blueprint for an ASEAN Political-Security Community to be adopted by South-East Asian leaders on Sunday in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin.
The draft of the document says ASEAN will "work towards the entry into force of the ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism by 2009".
The convention, signed in January 2007, provides a framework for regional cooperation to "counter, prevent and suppress terrorism in all its forms and manifestations".
It calls for the exchange of intelligence and the prevention of one ASEAN member's territory to plan, finance or facilitate attacks on another.
The wide-ranging blueprint also contains ASEAN's commitment to fight corruption, combat maritime piracy and develop an "early warning system to prevent the occurrence/escalation of conflicts".
ASEAN chair and summit host Thailand is embroiled in a border dispute with fellow ASEAN member Cambodia.
ASEAN members Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and the Philippines have competing claims on the Spratlys island chain in the South China Sea along with China and Taiwan.
AFP
1st March 2009
ASEAN states will intensify efforts to fight militants and pledge to work for the full implementation of a regional counter-terrorism pact this year, according to a draft document.
The document, seen by AFP on Saturday, is to be adopted by the Association of South-East Asian Nations leaders at the end of an annual summit on Sunday.
It says the bloc will "promote effective implementation" of a comprehensive plan of action to fight terrorism and cooperate to address its root causes.
South-East Asia is the base for Jemaah Islamiyah, the militant network blamed for a string of bloody attacks in the region including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people - many of them foreign tourists.
Muslim separatist insurgencies are meanwhile being waged in southern Thailand and on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
The counter-terrorism plan is contained in a blueprint for an ASEAN Political-Security Community to be adopted by South-East Asian leaders on Sunday in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin.
The draft of the document says ASEAN will "work towards the entry into force of the ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism by 2009".
The convention, signed in January 2007, provides a framework for regional cooperation to "counter, prevent and suppress terrorism in all its forms and manifestations".
It calls for the exchange of intelligence and the prevention of one ASEAN member's territory to plan, finance or facilitate attacks on another.
The wide-ranging blueprint also contains ASEAN's commitment to fight corruption, combat maritime piracy and develop an "early warning system to prevent the occurrence/escalation of conflicts".
ASEAN chair and summit host Thailand is embroiled in a border dispute with fellow ASEAN member Cambodia.
ASEAN members Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and the Philippines have competing claims on the Spratlys island chain in the South China Sea along with China and Taiwan.
AFP
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