Singapore on Saturday urged Southeast Asian nations to each set up an anti-terrorism centre to boost coordination in the region's war against the scourge.
"We recommended to the other ASEAN countries to form a central point of contact and also a point of coordination on information related to counter terrorism," said the home ministry's deputy secretary Tan Boon Huat.
"It will be good to have a single point of contact so that when we work with one country, it is easier to go to one (centre) than to a dozen."

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an ASEAN senior officials meeting here to lay the groundwork for a special two-day ASEAN home (interior) ministers' session on terrorism starting on Monday.

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Tan offered Singapore's assistance to intensify training among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "(ASEAN) has limited expertise in various aspects like bomb detection, bomb disposal and recovery, and bomb blast investigation," he said.

"We will be happy to share what we have. We can also offer the use of our police academy, civil defence academy for the conduct of such ASEAN training." ASEAN officials Friday ended a two-day meeting on transnational crime by agreeing to work towards harmonizing criminal laws, to conduct joint exercises to boost law enforcement, and intelligence to combat terror.

Asked why Singapore did not join an anti-terrorism pact signed in Kuala Lumpur last week between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, he said it has to study the details first before making a decision.

"In general, I believe the three countries have got certain common problems and have very quickly designed a pact around this immediate problem," he added.

Thailand has expressed interest in joining the pact, which sets out a framework for the countries to cooperate to combat terrorist groups and prevent them from using their assets for transnational crime.

Officials said ASEAN ministers next week may unveil an anti-terrorism pact amid criticism that the region had been slow to forge collective action against terror in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States.

Malaysia is also seeking to get the ASEAN ministers to agree on a definition of terror, but is unlikely to meet with success, officials said. Tan said not all ASEAN members could accept a common definition.

"Let's concentrate on the practical stuff. Let's determine what are the practical things we can do and what immediate things we can do," he added.

Myanmar's Colonel Sit Aye, director of international relations department, described the matter as "very controversial", but said Myanmar would follow the consensus. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Bureau Report