Indon team in Davao for talks on security

DAVAO CITY — A 13-man Indonesian delegation, led by the police chief of North Sulawesi, arrived here yesterday afternoon for a five-day visit that will include talks on security with their counterparts in Southern Min—danao.

"We are going to hold meetings with the police here," Brig. Gen. Jon Lalo, North Sulawesi police chief, said.

Their visit includes a trip to General Santos City before they return to Manado, Indonesia on Monday.

Chief Superintendent Isidro Lapeña, Southern Mindanao police director, said the talks would focus on how Mindanao and East Indonesia could work closely in fighting terrorism and transnational crimes.

"We shall be talking about how to improve information gathering and sharing of intelligence reports so we could combat terrorism and other transnational crimes in both our areas," Lapeña said.

According to reports, members of the Jakarta-based militant group Jemaah Islamiyah have been shuttling between East Indonesia and Mindanao where they conduct trainings for Muslim separatist guerrillas.

In earlier newspaper reports, Lalo was quoted as having warned of the presence of terrorists’ training camps in Southern Mindanao.

Johannes Manginsela, Indonesian vice consul based here, said the visit of the Indonesian group also aims to establish closer links between the police commands of both countries.

"It would be good if these police officers could establish closer relations in such a way that if they need information, they can just call each other so that the matter at hand can immediately be addressed," Manginsela said. — With Jaime Laude