Indonesia calls on neighbors to act against piracy

By Ainur Rohmah

TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) – Indonesia’s defense minister has pushed for cooperation with Malaysia and the Philippines in implementing agreements to improve maritime security, following a spate of kidnappings in the region’s piracy-ridden waters.

"It is important to immediately implement the trilateral cooperation in practical terms on the ground in a coordinated manner," Ryamizard Ryacudu told a meeting attended by his Malaysian and Philippine counterparts Tuesday on Bali island.

In past months, more than 20 Indonesian and Malaysian sailors have been kidnapped in the Celebes and Sulu seas and held captive by militants in the Philippines’ troubled south.

At least 10 Indonesians are currently believed to be held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf group in the island province of Sulu.

Tuesday’s trilateral meeting was the third by the defense ministers of the neighboring countries, who had previously agreed to hold joint maritime patrols in the region.

Ryacudu was quoted by Indonesian national news agency Antara as calling for the implementation of trilateral maritime security patrols -- which the sides agreed to in a document signed in July -- in hopes of addressing the neighbors’ security issues, particularly in the Sulu Sea.

The patrols are aimed at combatting threats of terrorism, transnational crime, and the trafficking of people and narcotics.

Ryacudu also proposed the establishment of a joint military command post to facilitate a mechanism of coordination, distribution of information and intelligence and the ongoing implementation of the joint declaration of cooperation.

Kidnap-for-ransom gangs operating in the Sulu and Celebes seas are known to hand over their captives to the Abu Sayyaf and negotiate for a ransom that, if paid, is shared with the group.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf group -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.