Asean signs landmark pact to fight terror
After five years of diplomacy, leaders set aside differences
Asean leaders last night sealed a sweeping anti-terrorism pact, paving the way for smoother extradition of suspects, joint investigations and crackdowns on terrorists' funding.
The convention signed by the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations caps five years of delicate diplomacy in a region plagued by Muslim insurgencies and the shadowy terror network Jemaah Islamiah - blamed for deadly bombings in Bali and Jakarta.
The Asean leaders, keen to make the grouping more relevant, also used their annual summit in the Philippines to confirm their goal of creating an Asean free-trade zone by 2015 - five years ahead of schedule. And they backed proposals to turn the loose grouping into a rules-based union, complete with voting and enforcement, including possible expulsion of member states. The leaders want the charter implemented this year, its 40th anniversary.
Asean countries are under pressure to compete better and engage with China and India after years of glacial progress on many issues, particularly trade.
Combating terrorism became a thorny issue after the September 11 attacks on the US, exposing cultural and diplomatic differences in the grouping. Members have never co-operated much on law enforcement. Now that will change.
Unusually, the Asean Convention on Counterterrorism states that it can be used as a legal instrument to speed extraditions in the absence of extradition pacts between individual nations.
'The whole thrust of the document is to stop foot-dragging and speed co-operation in terms of both prosecution and intelligence,' said one Asean source involved in its drafting.
The document must be ratified by individual member governments to give it legal force. Asean sources said they believed all 10 members would bring it into force within months.
Security issues have weighed heavily on the summit amid international warnings that terrorists are actively targeting the host city, Cebu, during the meetings. The summit was aborted in December amid similar warnings from the US, Britain, Australia and Canada.
As foreign ministers opened talks on Wednesday, three bomb explosions killed seven people on the southern island of Mindanao, home to Muslim separatist movements.
Talks continue today following the arrival of leaders from China, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand ahead of tomorrow's 2nd East Asia Leaders Summit.
North Korea's nuclear ambitions are expected to dominate that gathering, at which Premier Wen Jiabao will take a prominent role, meeting Asean counterparts and holding two- and three-way meetings with Japanese and South Korean leaders.
China and Japan have their own goals for integration with an Asean free-trade zone. Some Asean countries are also courting ties with India as a hedge against dominance by one superpower.
