Region forced to face terror

Southeast Asian nations coordinate databases, patrols

By Rafael D. Frankel
Special to the Tribune
Published November 9, 2002

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Following bombings in the Philippines, the breakup of Al Qaeda cells in Singapore and Malaysia, and the Bali nightclub explosions, Southeast Asia is coming to grips with the fact that it may be the epicenter of post-Sept. 11 international terrorism.

At this week's summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh, representatives from 10 countries agreed to set up a regional counterterrorism center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to focus on training, assembling databases of suspected terrorists, exchanging intelligence and establishing a cooperative border patrol.

"For the progress of all nations, we reiterate the barbarity of the attacks in Bali and strongly express our solidarity in combating terrorism in all forms," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said at the three-day session.

While the talk was tough on terror, security experts said the ASEAN countries had better back it up or face more attacks just as costly in human and economic terms as the Bali explosions last month, which killed at least 190 people. The Muslim militant group Jemaah Islamiyah is suspected of being involved in the Bali attack.

"It better be an effective measure. As long as the Jemaah Islamiyah infrastructure remains intact--and we know it is intact, at least in Indonesia and in Thailand--it will pose a threat to them and to their neighbors," said Rohan Gunaratna, author of "Inside Al Qaeda--Global Network of Terror."

Gunaratna says that since the mid-1990s, Jemaah Islamiyah has been the Southeast Asian arm of Al Qaeda.

"It is very appropriate that [the regional center] will be located in Malaysia, because most of the [Jemaah Islamiyah] leaders in the region have lived for a long period in Malaysia," a country that does not hesitate to crack down on terrorists, he said.

"Terrorists are like foxes: They will always go in search of opportunities where there are weak leaders and weak security," Gunaratna added.

But skepticism about the new accord came from many corners. Even outgoing ASEAN Secretary General Rodolfo Severino expressed doubt as to what could be accomplished.

ASEAN "was interested in getting something out [on terrorism] in a hurry, which they did," Severino said. "Does it have any teeth? Well, there's a certain limit to what can be done through cooperation. First, there is a lot of work that needs to be done on the national level in the separate countries."

What had greater potential, Severino said, were narrower, regional agreements to cooperate on intelligence matters. One such agreement was recently reached by Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Before the Bali bombings, support and cooperation in fighting terrorism in Southeast Asia differed greatly from country to country. Malaysia and Singapore took tough lines on terrorism, and broke up what officials said was a plot by Islamic fundamentalists, believed to be tied to Al Qaeda, to attack American, British and Australian targets in the two countries.

The Philippines accepted counterterrorism training from the U.S. military as it fought the Muslim separatist group Abu Sayyaf in its southern islands.

But it took the Bali bombings to galvanize a regional effort to combat terror.

Perhaps the biggest change came from Indonesia. Before Bali, Jakarta had scorned requests from the United States, Malaysia and Singapore to get serious in fighting terrorism. Now, according to ASEAN summit delegates, Indonesia is willing to go along with nearly any suggestion rather than incur the anger of neighbors still upset about Jakarta's previous lack of action.

©2002, The Chicago Tribune