“Asean denounces all acts of destruction, violence and terror in all its forms and manifestations,” the organization of 10 Southeast Asian member states said in a statement posted on its website yesterday. “Asean renews its commitment to work with the international community to fight against extremism, radicalism and terrorism and address its root causes.”
The U.S. expanded its bombing of militants from Islamic State, an al-Qaeda breakaway group from Iraq to Syria, this week. The strikes, backed by the broadest Arab-U.S. military coalition since the 1991 Gulf War, seek to rein in militants who have rampaged through Syria and threatened to ignite a civil war in Iraq.
Asean supports the United Nations Security Council resolutions, which call on the international community to suppress the flow of foreign terrorist fighters and financing of such groups, the bloc said in the statement. Asean comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei.
Misguided Leaders
As many as 200 Indonesians and at least 30 Malaysians have traveled to Syria to fight with the Islamic State and other rebel groups via countries such as Egypt and Turkey, according to a report last month by New York-based Soufan Group, which provides strategic analysis to governments. This raises the risk they will return to carry out attacks in their home countries, Soufan Group said in the report.
“Governments and Muslim community organizations must maintain vigilance against attempts by misguided leaders to spread propaganda to recruit Muslim youth to extremism and violence,” said Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “Governments should criminalize by law its nationals advocating, supporting or participating in fighting overseas.”
Should there be an Islamic State strike in Malaysia, it will be along the Sulu Straits, between Sabah on the island of Borneo and the southern Philippines, The Star reported today, citing Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. A meeting will be held with Prime Minister Najib Razak to discuss allocating funds to safeguard the country’s waters, Hishammuddin told the Kuala Lumpur-based newspaper.
The Philippines government has been alerted to the possible entry of Islamic State operatives into the country, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported today, citing President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman Abigail Valte. Authorities are tapping into the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has signed a peace treaty with the government, to gather and share information, according to the report. -- Bloomberg
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