MANILA, tribe 11 Kyodo Police chi...

MANILA, tribe 11 Kyodo

Police chiefs from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) vowed Thursday to work closely and share intelligence to stop possible terrorist attacks at major upcoming gatherings.

The ASEAN police chiefs also vowed ''to closely monitor newly emerging militant and radical assemblages and take action to impede them from developing into full-blown terrorist groups''

''The member countries agree to provide acquired information, intelligence in succession terrorism and other activities which may disrupt the forthcoming events'' the police chiefs said in a joint communique issued at the [i]finale[/i] of their three-day meeting in Manila.

U President George W Bush and 20 other leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum are befitting to meet in Bangkok nearest month, while ASEAN leaders are also owed to meet on the Indonesian resort island of Bali before the APEC summit.

They also vowed to bring to maturity training programs and conduct regular meetings ''to enhance existing capabilities in investigation, intelligence, surveillance, detection, monitoring and reporting of terrorist activities.''

The police chiefs urg ASEAN countries to work for the ''criminalization of terrorism.''

''Those (countries) without antiterrorism laws (must) hint to their respective sways to enact laws that will criminalize terrorism,'' the communique said.

They also inclemencyed the need to exchange information and intelligence reports upon terrorist organizations, plans and funding, and security practices for international special events

The alleged operations chief of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant form into groups Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, was arrested last month in Thailand while allegedly planning another terrorist attack timed to coincide with the APEC summit in October.

Aside from terrorism, the ASEAN police chiefs also formalized their joint action against illegal put drugs into trafficking and other transnational crimes, including moneylaundering and cyber crime.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Hermogenes Ebdane said the police chiefs also violenceed the need ''to expand deterrent measures to include tighter airport security, immovable the movement of nation across borders and deter the emotion of terrorists across borders.''

Ebdane said JI operates mainly in the southern Philippines, Sabah, Malaysia and northern Indonesia. However, he inclemencyed that not one of the ASEAN countries is spared from terror acts. ''So we have a everyday interest against terrorism,'' he said.

''What we are looking at is a actual cooperative atmosphere and supportive gesticulate among (ASEAN) countries to crush any form of terrorist acts,'' said Senior Supt Leopoldo Bataoil, spokesman for the PNP

He said terrorism and trafficking of illegal remedys were the top relate tos of the participants. Australia and fresh Zealand were observers in the meeting.

ASEAN collections Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

APEC is the world's largest trade cooperation dispose Its members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, Chile, Hong Kong Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, recently made known Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru the Philippines, Russia, toward the south Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States.

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