| Agence
France Presse August 22, 2005 PERTH, Australia AUSTRALIA Monday, Aug 22, urged Singapore to become more involved in counter-terrorism cooperation with countries in the region, including Indonesia and the Philippines. "We're really aiming to get Singapore even more involved in counter-terrorism cooperation with Australia than is already the case, and already it's pretty significant," said Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. "We're obviously very focused on supporting counter-terrorism efforts by countries like Indonesia and the Philippines. "We've already established the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation, we want to get Singapore increasingly involved." Downer was speaking to reporters before the fifth Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee meeting in Perth Monday. The two-day meeting brings together Downer and his Singaporean counterpart George Yeo, as well as the defence and trade ministers from the two countries. Defence Minister Robert Hill and his Singaporean counterpart Teo Chee Hean visited the Campbell Barracks in Perth which is hosting a regional meeting of military terrorism experts. "We have small contingents from practically all states within our region joining together to better understand each other's techniques and capabilities in terms of counter-terrorism," Hill said. The meeting of experts, which would become a regular part of anti-terrorism efforts, was part of Australia's "whole-of-government efforts to improve counter terrorism capabilities in the region," Hill said. Australian targets have been hit by bombing attacks abroad in recent years and the country is bracing for a possible assault on home soil similar to the London bombings which killed 56 people in July. Prime Minister John Howard, who has sent Australian troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, has called a meeting of local Muslim leaders to discuss reining in Islamic radicals and is planning a anti-terrorism summit meeting with state leaders next month.
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