Asian governments will meet this week on bomb-scarred Bali to look at expanding their anti-terror fight beyond their often-sporadic, two-way agreements that have damaged -- but failed to defeat -- the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah militant group.
But critics say they doubt the Cabinet ministers and other senior officials from 33 countries will be able to sign anything beyond a vague declaration when they meet today and tomorrow because of the region's history of mutual suspicions, national self-interest and varying assessments of the terror threat.
"We've seen many declarations of intent in the past. But we haven't seen regional mechanisms to put these declarations in place," said Andrew Tan, a security analyst at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies.
Tan said the region needs something like the EU police organization Europol to handle transnational crimes, or an agency to craft Asia-wide anti-terror policy and coordinate legislation.
Transnational cooperation has forced Jemaah Islamiyah further underground and helped jail many of its leaders. But the terrorists are regrouping, helped by porous borders, lax maritime security and rising fanaticism, officials say.
"When we look at Southeast Asia, we see the mutual suspicions and diversity of interests," Tan added. "We lose in terms of coordination and closer permanent institutional exchange of information that would help us fight terrorism."
Officials admit there's no comprehensive proposal on the table in Bali. They say they'll aim to bolster information exchanges and intelligence gathering, and announce new anti-terror aid for developing countries like Indonesia.
They're also expected to announce the opening of a transnational crime center in Indonesia, run jointly by this country and Australia, to offer anti-terror training and serve as an information clearinghouse.
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