Building Capacity To Combat Terrorism

The seminar was the fourth in a series organised by the Secretariat on counter-terrorism.

Countries in South-East Asia are addressing the root causes of terrorism by narrowing the development gaps among member countries, said Dato' Zain Abidin Zainal, Director-General of the South-East Asian Regional Centre on Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT).

He was speaking at the 'Capacity-Building Seminar on Combating Terrorism' in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, held on 22-26 November 2004. It was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat's Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division and SEARCCT. Its main objective was to enhance the skills of law enforcement officers and prosecutors in preventing, investigating and prosecuting terrorist acts and financing. It also aimed to promote international co-operation in the fight against terrorism. 

Dato' Zain stated: "We are living in a shrinking world and have become close neighbours. This closeness should be used to develop efforts to combat this problem by promoting international co-operation especially in the field of information gathering and exchange."

He pointed out that terrorism was a law enforcement, a military and a public health issue. "It may also be a socio-economic problem like our earlier experiences with terrorist violence. And it is certainly an economic problem. The mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery functions cover a broad spectrum of activities that can reduce the risk and deal with the consequences of future terrorist acts."

Around 40 participants from Bangladesh, Cyprus, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka attended the workshop. The delegates were mainly prosecutors, law enforcement officers and instructors at law enforcement training institutions. 

"The workshop has been very enlightening as I had never had any previous exposure to such training in counter-terrorism," said participant Clarence Foo, a public prosecutor in the Attorney-General's Chambers in Malaysia.

The seminar was the fourth in a series organised by the Secretariat on counter-terrorism. Three others were held in Namibia, Singapore and Kenya earlier this year.

 

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 213  8 December 2004

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