US embassy cable - 03HANOI381

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POSITIVE ON ASEAN COUNTERTERRORISM INITIATIVES

Identifier: 03HANOI381
Wikileaks: View 03HANOI381 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Hanoi
Created: 2003-02-18 08:53:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Tags: PTER PREL VM ARF ASEAN CNARC
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HANOI 000381 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; EAP/RSP; S/CT 
 
E.O. 12958:  NA 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, VM, ARF, ASEAN, CNARC 
SUBJECT:  POSITIVE ON ASEAN COUNTERTERRORISM INITIATIVES 
 
REF:  Hanoi 1947 
 
1.  (U)  According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs ASEAN 
Department (MFA/ASEAN) expert Nguyen Thanh Huy, the GVN "is 
fully committed" to the international struggle against 
terrorism and will accede to ASEAN's "Agreement on 
Information Exchange and Establishment of Communication 
Procedures" signed last May by Indonesia, Malaysia, and the 
Philippines.  "It is only a matter of time" until Vietnam 
accedes, he claimed, while declining to predict exactly 
when.  He added that deliberations within the GVN leadership 
are "nearing completion," however. 
 
2.  (U)  Huy praised the three-day security conference held 
in January in Manila at which the Philippines, Cambodia, 
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand agreed to form a joint 
committee to boost multilateral cooperation against 
terrorism and "other transnational crimes."  Huy also 
pointed to a January police conference in Indonesia, 
attended by GVN Ministry of Public Security Director General 
Major General Truong Huu Quoc, at which officials pledged to 
strengthen counterterrorism cooperation and establish 
special counterterrorism task forces in ASEAN member 
countries.  Vietnam "is looking forward" to hosting the 
third annual senior conference on transnational crime, 
scheduled for June 2003 in Hanoi, he added. 
 
3.  (U)  Huy claimed that, while the GVN leadership believes 
Vietnam is a less likely terrorist target than some other 
ASEAN members, events such as September 11 and Bali have 
clearly demonstrated that the terrorist forces "have a long 
reach." 
 
4.  (SBU)  COMMENT.  Huy is a focal point for 
counterterroism issues within MFA/ASEAN (and, as a result, 
we are considering him as a potential IV grantee).  We 
understand that he has written extensively on ASEAN 
counterterrorism initiatives within the MFA.  It is 
encouraging that such helpful views regarding the 
seriousness of the war on terrorism and the imperative of 
regional cooperation appear to be circulating among the 
leadership. 
BURGHARDT 

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