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Anti-terror taskforce agreed for SE Asia
By Amy Chew for CNN
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Police forces across Southeast Asia are to set up special anti-terrorist taskforces as part of intensified regional efforts to combat terrorism and apprehend terrorist suspects. The announcement, by Indonesian police chief General Da'i Bachtiar, came at the end of a three-day workshop on terrorism in Jakarta, sponsored by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The plan was originally put forward by Indonesia, and comes in the wake of last year's bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed at least 192 people, most of them young Australian tourists, and brought Indonesia's lucrative tourism industry to a standstill. The blast has been linked to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional militant group linked to al Qaeda whose membership spreads throughout Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore and across Southeast Asia. JI is regarded as the biggest terrorist threat by regional governments. Assistance"Each Asean member country will have an anti-terrorist taskforce," Bachtiar told reporters Wednesday. "In the event of a terrorist attack, the affected country can request assistance from other Asean countries," he said. Such assistance could be in the form of, but not limited to, pursuing and apprehending suspects, questioning witnesses, searching and obtaining evidence, as well as evacuating and treating of victims. The taskforce will be linked by liaison officers who will work together in developing threat and risk assessment, planning responses, as allocating resources and assistance, Bachtiar said. The taskforce is expected to be fully operational by July. Extraditable offense
Indonesia has also proposed criminalizing acts of terrorism and to make them extraditable offenses -- a plan that is expected to feature high on the agenda of an Asean meeting on trans-national crime in Hanoi in June. Several of those suspected of plotting and carrying out the Bali attacks were Malaysian and Singaporean nationals, investigators say. Legal complications have prevented them from being extradited to Indonesia. However, Indonesian authorities have been given access to interrogate the suspects in their respective countries. To date, 30 people, including several suspected key players in the Bali attack have been arrested.
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