- Title: THAILAND: SECURITY AND TERROR DOMINATE AGENDA AT ASEAN SUMMIT.
- Date: 8th January 2004
- Summary: (U3) BANGKOK, THAILAND (JANUARY 8, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. GV/TILT DOWN: EXTERIOR OF HOTEL 0.06 2. GV/PAN: ASEAN DELEGATES WALKING INTO MEETING ROOM (2 SHOTS) 0.23 3. MCU: CAMERAS FILMING OPENING CEREMONY 0.26 4. LV: WIDE OF OPENING CEREMONY, WITH MINISTERS WALKING ON TO STAGE 0.31 5. GV: VARIOUS ASEAN MINISTERS SHAKING HANDS ON
- Embargoed: 23rd January 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BANGKOK, THAILAND
- Country: Thailand
- Reuters ID: LVAKX8DH723BM7OY2HOJTHJEW8F
- Story Text: Security and terror dominate the agenda as ASEAN
ministers meet to discuss transnational crime.
Southeast Asia needs closer cooperation to battle
drug trafficking, arms smuggling and particularly terror in
light of increasingly sophisticated transnational crime
networks and porous borders, its ministers said on Thursday.
It is the first time 13 Asian nations have met to
discuss transnational crime -- with delegates from the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China,
Japan and South Korea attending the three-day meeting.
In the opening ceremony, Thai Justice Minister Phongthep
Thepkanjana said ASEAN needed to adopt a more "holistic"
approach to fighting international crime, at a time when
illegal industries such as drug smuggling and weapons
dealing can be used to finance militant networks in the
region.
The meeting comes a time when Thailand's predominantly
Muslim south has been locked in turmoil after a series of
attacks that started on Sunday and killed six policemen and
soldiers.
ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Dr. Wilfredo Villacorta
said recent events emphasised the need for increased
cooperation between the 10 ASEAN member countries and their
partners in Asia.
"This is very timely and significant in the light of
events that the region faces. Being from Thailand you are
of course appreciative of the urgency of the situation with
respect to transnational crime, and that includes
terrorism," Villacorta said at a press conference on th eve
of the meeting.
The delegates from ASEAN -- which groups Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- will also
discuss people trafficking, sea piracy, arms smuggling,
money laundering, and economic and cyber crime with their
counterparts from North Asia.
Pongthep told that the "complex web of networks" that
supported transnational crime could only be effectively
dealt with if countries shared information, technology and
experience.
"We are sure that ASEAN countries will cooperate more
and more and we can set the system that we can help each
other and try to crack down on transnational crime,
including terrorism," he told reporters, adding that
Thailand was working closely with other nations including
Australia and the United States.
Malaysian delegate Chor Chee Heung told Reuters the
meeting would not focus on the problems on the
Thai-Malaysian border -- though the two countries were
discussing the possibility of a bilateral meeting on the
issue.
But he said that security and terror would be uppermost
on the agenda at the meeting.
"We are dead against terrorism and want all terrorists
being brought to book, irrespective of them being of
whatever religious organisation or whatever, it doesn't
matter to us," he told reporters.
He said he thought the meeting could go "a long way" in
dealing with the problem.
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