The Australian has reported under the headline "Malcolm Turnbull’s bid to unite region on terror" that Turnbull "is negotiating with counterparts in Malaysia and Indonesia and with other neighbours to set up a regional centre to expand deradicalisation programs and counter violent extremism, while sharing intelligence to halt suspected terrorists."
Turnbull seems not to understand that while he considers Australian agencies to be the "world's best" Asian agencies are unlikely to be impressed. Malaysia for example has a a human intelligence network (HUMINT) that IS considered among the best in the world while Singapore's electronic surveillance is so pervasive that its citizens accept it as a fact of life, without much complaint.It is likely that the Singaporeans known more about the Alex Turnbull's business ,China links, and the actual value of the the Turnbull family's wealth than even Malcolm and Lucy.
Then, there have been embarrassing incidents where foreign agencies have been aware of what is going on in Sydney while our "best in the world" agencies remained in the dark.The recent matter of Dawood Ibrahim and Chotta Rajan is a case in point.
As for his deradicalization programme , Asian leaders would from their own experience known long ago what The Australian has also reported:
Successive (Australian) governments failed to assess the outcomes of these projects, with those organisations receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants required only to self-evaluate their success.
Instead of attempting to grandstand in Kuala Lumpur, Turnbull should instead be asking himself what his counterparts in Asia know of him from their own intelligence agencies. He has been doing business in Asia long enough ,as is now his son, for there to be nice thick files held in archives in various Asian capitals that would have by now been reactivated for surveillance and action.
END
Malcolm Turnbull’s bid to unite region on terror
- THE AUSTRALIAN
- SAVE
Malcolm Turnbull is negoti­ating to set up a ­regional centre to expand deradicalisation programs and counter violent extremism.
Australia is joining a new international effort to confront terrorism across Southeast Asia amid Interpol warnings that 1200 foreign fighters have travelled from the region to the Middle East, heightening fears about attacks in their home countries.
Malcolm Turnbull is negotiating with counterparts in Malaysia and Indonesia and with other neighbours to set up a regional centre to expand deradicalisation programs and counter violent extremism, while sharing intelligence to halt suspected terrorists.
The plan acknowledges that not enough is being done to deradicalise convicted terrorists and halt the spread of extremist propaganda, especially on the social media networks that have become powerful recruiting tools for Islamic State and others.
The Weekend Australian understands the joint effort is a key part of talks at the East Asia Summit starting in Kuala Lumpur today, where more than a dozen national leaders will discuss the new measures. Amid the focus on a military coalition against Islamic State in Syria, officials from East Asia Summit member countries also want a coalition to counter violent extremism in the region.
The push comes as China condemns Islamic State after the terrorist group executed a Chinese national this week, while Malaysia has confirmed the beheading of one of its citizens by extremist group Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines.
US officials are now talking of working with China “on an intelligence basis”, given the realisation that countries across the region have a shared interest in countering terrorism.
Under the proposal, the new centre would be established in Malaysia so it could work with security agencies from around Southeast Asia, including the Australian Federal Police and ASIO. It will not conflate work on social cohesion and community support with the harder task of countering violent extremism among specific groups or deradicalising known individuals who have already been convicted of terrorism.
In a sign of the struggle to stop poisonous ideologies from spreading among the young, The Australian yesterday revealed that only one of 87 federal government programs examined by experts was directly dealing with offenders to deradicalise them.
The regional effort admits the challenge of identifying the best ways to turn people away from extremism and suggests greater co-operation to make the programs more effective.
The Prime Minister is understood to have raised the problem with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in their meeting last week to forge a closer alliance.
He arrives in Kuala Lumpur today from Darwin, following his attendance at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Manila, where leaders issued a joint statement to commit to stronger action against terrorism.
There are about 110 foreign fighters from Australia in Syria and Iraq, down from a high of 120 as a result of the deaths of terrorists including Mohamed Elomar, believed to have died in June, and possibly Khaled Sharrouf.
Indonesia is said to have about 400 foreign fighters in the Middle East, fewer than Australia as a proportion of its population, but its treatment of convicted terrorists has sparked concerns among its neighbours. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told The Weekend Australian last week that Indonesians who were “nominally in jail” could openly promote terrorism — and that “several hundred” of them were due to be released this year or next.
Mr Turnbull also raised the subject in his formal bilateral talks with Benigno Aquino, President of The Philippines, which is confronting domestic terrorism from groups such as Abu Sayyaf while having only a small number of foreign fighters in the middle east.
Australia, Malaysia and South Korea are discussing a move at the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur for a declaration that will denounce terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms, pledging co-operation between all member nations. The counter-terrorism plan will set out new ways for security agencies to work together to block terrorist propaganda, co-operate on deradicalisation and share research.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told The Weekend Australian that Australia was stepping up plans to share more intelligence with regional neighbours in order to halt foreign fighters.
The US this week also signalled its willingness to share intelligence with Asian countries to the same end. “I think the Chinese recognise they have … people who have gone from China into Syria,” said White House deputy national security adviser for strategic communications Ben Rhodes. “So like every other nation who’s seen that challenge, they have an interest in working with us on an intelligence basis, most likely to counter terrorism and counter ISIL.”
Mr Turnbull has drawn on his talks with Mr Joko, the head of the world’s most populous Muslim country, to describe Islamic State as a “defamation” of Islam and a “godless” ideology that should not lead to the demonisation of the wider Muslim community.
Leaders at the East Asia summit include US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang as well as the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The East Asia Summit includes ASEAN as well as eight others: Australia, New Zealand, the US, China, Japan, South Korea, India and Russia.
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