"Indonesia and Philippines, are facing the threat of terrorism."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian and Philippine governments have agreed to exchange data to fight and eliminate certain groups linked to terrorism.
According to a presidential statement on Tuesday, the agreement was reached by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Philippine counterpart Benigno S Aquino III.
The two leaders agreed to exchange intelligence data and information to fight and root out the activities of certain quarters related to terrorist networks.
"Both countries, Indonesia and Philippines, are facing the threat of terrorism," Yudhoyono said.
The Indonesian President said there were certain connections about the terrorist network in Indonesia and those in the Philippines as well as the in other countries.
In fact, in some cases, some foreign nationals were found as terrorists in Indonesia, Yudhoyono said.
"The terrorists in the South East Asia region have high mobility," Yudhoyono said.
Therefore, President Yudhoyono called on the leaders of South Asian countries to unite to fight terrorism.
Meanwhile, President Benigno S. Aquino III said Indonesia and the Philippines had many things in common but both were also facing the threat of terrorism.
President Aquino also wanted to improve the cooperation in the maritime border sector to halt the mobility of terrorists.
The maritime border cooperation between the two countries would be intensified as there was a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two.
In addition, the two presidents also signed an MoU on cooperation to reinforce their national police forces to fight trans-border crime.
President Benigno S Aquino III was visiting Indonesia for the first time.
(Uu.KR-AES/HAJM/O001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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