http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/4/19/tni-adf-agree-to-combat-terrorism-by-exchanging-intelligence-info/
04/19/07 16:44 TNI, ADF agree to combat terrorism by exchanging intelligence info Canberra (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s National Defense Forces (TNI) and Australia`s Defense Forces (ADF) have agreed to step up their cooperation in combating terrorism through intelligence information exchange, visiting TNI Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto said here on Thursday. Djoko Suyanto made the statement after meeting his Australian counterpart, Marshal Allan Grant (Angus) Houston and other Australian defense officials in Canberra on Thursday before leaving for Sydney to meet with Prime Minister John Howard on the same day. He said the TNI and ADF had agreed to intensify cooperation in three areas, namely humanitarian mission and disaster management, peace-keeping operations and intelligence information exchange to combat terrorism. In the counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries, the TNI and ADF would play very strategic roles in dealing with terror threats by exchanging intelligence information. "We will not cooperate by taking joint military actions but by sharing intelligence information. That`s why, the Assistant for Intelligence Affairs to the TNI`s General Affairs Chief came here last month to initiate the cooperation in intelligence information sharing," Djoko said. Djoko said the idea of stepping up cooperation in the three areas arose in his discussion with Marshal Angus Houston and other ADF officials, including Australian Army Chief of Staff Lt Gen P.F. Leahy and First Assistant Secretary for Foreign Policy Affairs Stephany Foster. He said the two countries were committed to increasing their cooperation in the three areas in the future without neglecting existing cooperation actvities such as student and soldiers` exchange programs, joint operations and exercises. Asked what was being done to follow up the Indonesia-Australia Security Agreement known as the "Lombok Treaty", Djoko said what he had done during his two-day visit in Austraila was part of what the TNI doing in pursuance of the Lombok Treaty. He said follow-up actions at foreign and defense ministers` levels would be taken continually. "At the defense ministers` level, for example, a `defense cooperation agreement` will probably be formulated but I am not sure when because it is not on my level," Djoko said. During his two-day official visit in Canberra, Marshal Djoko Suyanto was accompanied by Indonesian Ambassador to Australia and Vanuatu TM Hamzah Thayeb, Assistant to the TNI Chief of General Staff for Intelligence Affairs Maj Gen Eddi Budianto, and Indonesian Embassy Defense Attache Commodore Kuswantoro.(*)
