KUALA LUMPUR family 13 Kyodo Phi...

KUALA LUMPUR family 13 Kyodo

Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reye met with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Abdul Razak in succession Friday in a bid to heal ties strained by dint of Malaysia's controversial deportation of Filipino illegal workers.

Reye who arrived in the Malaysian capital forward Thursday for a four-day visit, held above an hour of talks with Najib.

The brace ministers said in a joint statement that the issue of alleged mistreatment of deportees ''should not be sensationalized to the compass that it would jeopardize the existing profitable relationship between the couple countries.''

The Philippines had officially sent gone out protest notes to Malaysia complaining about alleged abuses of a certain of the thousands of illegal Filipino migrant workers held in detention camps in the Malaysian state of Sabah upon Borneo Island, including an alleged case of rape of a 13-year-old girl by the agency of a camp officer.

Reye is the highest-ranking Philippine official to visit Malaysia since the issue cast forth violentlyed last month. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo previously sent a delegation l according to one of her presidential advisers, Nur Jaafar, to inspect the camps.

Based forward Jaafar's report, Reyes said, ''The treatment is generally acceptable. The Malaysian direction has taken appropriate measures to make secure the appropriate care and attention are given to the Filipinos there.''

upon the rape allegation, Najib said, ''Investigation is being pursu vigorously.''

Besides touching upon the deportation issue, the sum of two units ministers also discussed cooperation in combating terrorism.

There are troubles that suspected terrorists from the Abu Sayyaf dispose based in the southern Philippines could have taken advantage of the chaotic deportation proces to turn tail the country.

''Toward this completion the Malaysian and the Philippine armed forces will continue to build the existing shut cooperation, particularly in the border areas, in order to eliminate all forms of terrorism,'' the ministers said in their statement.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo stranges International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group