05/19/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09892

FIGHTING TERROR IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

The U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan is just one part of the global war against terrorism. Other regions of the world also face terrorist threats. One is Southeast Asia. With U.S. support, Southeast Asian nations are cracking down on terrorists and strengthening their anti-terrorist capabilities.

There is concern that terrorists of the al-Qaida-affiliated Jemaah Islamiah [jem-ah-ah is-lah-mee-ah] network are using Thailand's southern border with Malaysia as a transit point for weapons and personnel. The Philippines continues to battle Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist organization that has had links to al-Qaida. In December, Singapore arrested members of Jemaah Islamiah, which was planning attacks on U.S. targets.

Malaysia has locked up over sixty suspected terrorists in a crackdown that began even before September 11^th. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir (mah-ha-TEER) Mohamad met with President George W. Bush in Washington. Mr. Mahathir said there should be no let-up in the fight against terror.

Southeast Asian leaders recognize that they must work together to combat terrorist groups of global reach. Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines reached an anti-terrorism agreement on May 7^th. Thailand has announced that it will join, and Singapore will cooperate. This initiative will improve Southeast Asian nations' capabilities to crush organizations like Jemaah Islamiah, which is bent on creating extremist Islamic states in the region.

The U.S. is already providing military training and assistance to the Philippines in its campaign against Abu Sayyaf. And Singapore has for the first time joined U.S. and Thai troops in an annual military exercise.

As President George W. Bush said, the free world cannot live with terrorist networks. The only way to defend against them is to go after them -- "to find them, root them out, and stop them from killing people."