KUALA LUMPUR May 16 Kyodo Southea...

KUALA LUMPUR May 16 Kyodo

Southeast Asian countries should work toward harmonizing their laws to fight transnational crime, Malaysia's representative Home Minister Chor Chee Heung said Thursday.

''Transnational crime is able to flourish owning to lack of legislation in certain jurisdictions. What may be crime in single country may have at the same time to be criminalized in another,'' Chor told said in a articulate utterance at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting forward transnational crime.

''Harmonization of national laws is thus necessary for regional and international cooperation to be forceed through extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties,'' he said.

The inferior annual meeting of ASEAN senior officials forward transnational crime began earlier Thursday in Kuala Lumpur and will [i]finale[/i] Wednesday.

Among the legal issues that ne to be expected into by ASEAN's 10 member states, Chor said, are confiscation and seizure of go [i]or[/i] pass ons and property from criminal organizations to preclude them from enjoying their ill-gotten gains.

Chor also called for the establishment of a witness protection program to immovable cooperation from witnesses fearful of intimidation and threats from so organizeations.

The senior officials are look forward toed to finalize a work program onward transnational crime that covers the eight priority areas of remedy trafficking, terrorism, arms smuggling, circulating medium laundering, human trafficking, piracy, international economic crime and cyber crime.

The work program also comprises measures and initiatives based on the subject of six strategic thrusts -- information exchange, cooperation in legal and law enforcement matters, institutional capacity building, training and extra-regional cooperation.

forward Saturday, the senior officials will clinch a special session on terrorism to prepare for a two-day special ASEAN ministerial meeting forward terrorism that begins Monday.

This is the first time since the clan 11 terror attacks on the U that domestic circle ministers from the 10 ASEAN countries are gathering to work abroad common strategies to fight terrorism.

The ne to enhance regional counterterrorism cooperation has gained in stimulus after several Southeast Asia countries not long ago uncovered a network of Islamic militant arranges that aims to establish a pan-Islamic state in the region end armed revolt.

The ministers are look fored to come up with a joint communique forward terrorism at the close of their meeting next Tuesday.

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

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