INT'L INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION EXCHANGE NEEDED TO FIGHT TERORIRSM

Jakarta, July 29 (ANTARA) - Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda said international exchange of intelligence information was needed to anticipate terrorist attacks in Asian countries.

"Intelligence information exchange as well as regional and international cooperation are urgently needed in the efforts to track down the actors of terrorism in various countries," Wirayuda said.

The foreign affairs minister made the statement when asked about efforts to deal with terrorist attacks in major Indonesian cities such as Jakarta.

In addition, Wirayuda said, capacity building was also needed to overcome the terrorist threat.

"Our capacity building has been relatively successful, but it should also be supported by the police's capability to uncover the terrorist networks in Indonesia," Wirayuda said, adding that the police should also be supported with sophisticated equipment to locate the terrorists' hideouts.

He said the international community believed in Indonesia's capability to break up the terrorist rings and arrest the actors of the July 17 bombings of the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta.

"The international community trusts Indonesia is able to do so because in the past seven years its security agencies successfully busted terrorist rings and brought the perpetrators of terror bombings to justice," Wirayuda said.

The minister said a number of countries had offered their assistance to uncover the Mega Kuningan bombings but Indonesia considered itself able to solve the cases on its own.

On Friday morning, July 17, 2009, two bomb attacks were launched on the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in the Mega Kuningan area, killing nine people and injuring 53 others.

Of the 53 injured victims, 16 were foreigners and 37 Indonesian citizens. Among the 16 injured foreigners, six came from the United States, two from the Netherlands, two from Canada, two from South Korea, one respectively from India, New Zealand and Norway.

Police later identified three other dead victims as Senger Craig Andrew, McEvoy Garth Rupert John and Verity Nathan John of Australian nationality.