|
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Travel warnings to stay, says Australia
By Grant Holloway
CANBERRA, Australia (CNN) -- Australia will not downgrade its terror travel alerts for Southeast Asian countries until there is evidence that effective counter-terrorism measures are in place and working. Speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Association in Sydney Tuesday, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that he could understand the concerns the heightened alerts were having in the region, and the impact they had on the tourism industry. But he said lowering the level of the alerts was dependent on the effectiveness of counter-terror measures and co-operation between countries in the region to reduce the risk to travellers. "The more effective they are, the quicker the travel warnings will be downgraded," he said. Countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines rely heavily on Australian and other Western tourists for overseas income. They maintain the upgraded warnings are too alarmist and unnecessarily damaging to their tourist industries. Downer said he did not believe there was any lack of will on the part of countries in the region to co-operate to reduce terrorism, but there was a lack of capacity to address the issue. He said that up until the October 12 Bali bombings, Australia had been unaware of the breadth and depth of the now-banned Jemaah Islamiyah terror group in Southeast Asia and its links to groups such as al Qaeda. And while countries in the region faced considerable challenges in confronting the campaign against terrorism, Australia was "making no apologies for the actions it has taken so far". "Our obligations first and foremost are to the Australian people," Downer said. The minister was upbeat about the level of co-operation so far between security forces "at the working" level despite the rhetoric in the media and occasional statements by various regional leaders. The next 12 months will indicate whether such optimism is well founded. The Australian government faces some serious diplomatic challenges as the campaign against terrorism tests its relationships with its Southeast Asian neighbors. Often portrayed as the "odd man out" in Asia, Australia is likely to face competing demands on its loyalties and priorities as it attempts to combat the threat of al Qaeda linked terrorism in the region and the impact of a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq. Earlier this week, Malaysia's Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad put the situation succinctly: "Australia has to choose whether it's an Asian country or a Western country," he told the Australian newspaper. Mahathir warned that Australia was too closely aligned to the United States and its tactics in the war on terror and that Australia would always be regarded as an outsider in the region. ASEAN rebuff
Even discounting for the fact that Mahathir is a career critic of Australia, the Malaysian leader's observations cannot be lightly dismissed. The evidence of Southeast Asian disquiet with Australia's actions is mounting. Tellingly, Australia's latest attempts to play some sort of role in the Association of South East Asian Nations earlier this month were again quietly rebuffed. Australia had sought to join China, Japan and South Korea as a permanent dialogue partner at the annual ASEAN summits, but despite early optimism -- and support from Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong -- the issue was sidelined. This is a blow to Australia's attempts to stay engaged with the region, particularly as it seeks to generate greater co-operation between the security forces in Southeast Asia. Already the joint Indonesian-Australian investigation into the October 12 Bali bombings has created frictions, despite assurances from Downer and Prime Minister John Howard that the probe is going well. The Australian Federal Police, and the Australian populace, were horrified when the Indonesian police conducted a public and, at times, light-hearted interview with a key suspect for the benefit of the media. Support for U.S.Equally, Indonesians have been upset by heavy-handed police raids in Australia on suspected members and associates of the now-banned Jemaah Islamiyah group, particularly as the bulk of the raids targeted their citizens. The upgraded travel warnings also reinforce the view that Australia is too closely beholden to the United States line on the war on terror and more interested in its relationship with the U.S. and Britain than Asia. It's an argument which can be hard to refute given some of the public utterances of Prime Minister Howard. Apart from being one of the first countries to offer military assistance to the U.S. after the September 11 attacks, in June this year the Australian leader fulsomely praised the U.S. for its response to the terrorism attacks and declared America "has no better friend in the world than Australia." The Australian government's unwavering backing for possible U.S.-led military action U.S. against Iraq -- and a likely contribution of military support -- has also raised eyebrows in the region. The task for the Australian government will be to garner support for its objectives of combating terrorism in the Southeast Asia without becoming overbearing and without being regarded as America's "deputy sheriff" in the region.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
