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Eastern Front

Asia faces up to the challenge of terrorism

Tuesday, July 30, 2002
The Times

General Powell needs to pass a firm message to Paek Nam Sun, the Foreign Minister, directly or indirectly: however many apologies or signals of detente, North Korea will find the US willing to start a conversation but unwilling to tolerate its sometimes calculated craziness.

The war on terrorism has largely been seen as a fight by the United States and its allies against al-Qaeda and extremist groups in Afghanistan and the Middle East. But a more shadowy but just as determined war is now being waged in another part of the world increasingly troubled by a reputation as a haven for Islamist militants. Ten countries making up the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) are to sign a landmark agreement with America to increase US aid in the fight against terrorism, share intelligence and bolster ties between law enforcement agencies in each country. And when Colin Powell arrives in Brunei to initial the document, he may also have talks at the Asean Regional Forum with the Foreign Minister of North Korea, a nation suspected of tacit and overt support for some of the world’s deadliest terrorist organisations.

South-East Asia has become a second front in the battle against terrorism. Malaysia and Singapore have arrested scores of al-Qaeda suspects. Thailand is deeply concerned at the possible revival of a dormant separatist insurgency in the Muslim south. In the Philippines the Government, bolstered by US aid and training, has stepped up its assault on the Abu Sayyaf rebels, linked to al-Qaeda and responsible for the kidnapping and killing of Western and Filipino hostages. Indonesia fears that separatist groups, allied to religious extremists, will exacerbate the intercommunal violence already plaguing many parts of the country.
(More: TimesOnline.com News Source)
2002 © Times Newspapers, Ltd.

Dan