Malaysia Committed to Seeing World Free from Terrorism

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has always been committed to seeing a world free from terrorism, stressing the importance for the international community to deal with various aspects of terrorism in a balanced way. Charge d'Affaires ad interim of the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations (UN), Saiful Azam Martinus Abdullah said the international community must do more and act accordingly if they were truly sincere and committed to eradicating terrorism and extremism. "We cannot pretend that the problem in the Middle East does not exist, nor can we continue to live in a state of denial of the atrocities that have been committed. Only through action and results, we can realise our hopes of a world free of terrorism," he said in his address at the General Assembly Plenary Meeting in conjunction with the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy Week in New York, Thursday. The text of his speech was made available to Bernama on Friday. Elaborating on Malaysia's efforts on eradicating terrorism, Saiful Azam said Malaysia was supportive of efforts to enhance counter-terrorism measures, including the creation of an overall UN counter-terrorism coordinator and this would create greater coherence to combat the global scourge. To strengthen counter-terrorism work at the national front, he said Malaysia had ratified nine of the 13 international conventions and protocols, as well as taken various measures to fulfil its obligations that had been set forth by the General Assembly and Security Council. Currently, he said, Malaysia was in the midst of amending relevant national laws to enable it to accede to the remaining conventions and protocols. He noted that Malaysia also had established the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT), aimed at enhancing capacity-building and extending technical assistance at the international level. Since its inception in November 2002, the centre has conducted 96 training courses, workshops and forums attended by 3,038 local and foreign participants. Of late, Saiful Azam said, SEARCCT had expanded collaboration with other international organisations such as the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In addition, Malaysia had also signed bilateral agreements to enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism with many partners in the region and beyond. In Southeast Asia, Saiful Azam said, cooperation in combating terrorism primarily took place within the framework of the Asean Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime, that included discussions on cooperation and overseeing the implementation of activitities as well as sharing of intelligence to combat terrorism. "The signing of the Asean Convention on Counter-Terrorism in Manila on Jan 13, 2007 by all Asean member countries has turned it into the primary framework for Asean cooperation in combating terrorism. The Convention reflects the commitment and cooperation of meeting the challenges presented by international terrorism," he stressed. In addressing some of the more common factors that led people to turn to terrorism, Saiful Azam said Malaysia had taken various measures to eradicate hardcore poverty in the country and ensured that the population enjoyed equitable economic growth. "We (Malaysia) believe in the saying, 'prevention is better than cure'. The government has always ensured that Malaysia's expenditure on education consistently exceeds 20 per cent of the annual national budget, so that citizens can lead their life with dignity and hope. "If there are populations that live in dismal conditions and with despair that neither they, nor their children, have any hope for improvement in their lives, our efforts to eradicate terrorism may end in vain," he said. Saiful Azam said Malaysia also was supportive of interfaith and intercivilisational initiatives such as the UN Alliance of Civilisations to promote greater understanding among all religions and civilisations in the world. "Malaysia believes that the real problem that exists today is not between peoples of different faiths and cultures, instead it is between moderates and extremists of all faiths and cultures," he said. He noted that it was due to this reason that Prime Minister Najib Razak had called for the establishment of a Global Movement of the Moderates at the 65th General Assembly, as an avenue that supports a voice for reason, understanding, tolerance and respect. "What is pertinent is that moderates be seen as occupying the centre stage and push extremism and terrorism to the periphery," he said. -- BERNAMA