Singapore Open to Further Ties to Fight ISIS

The Straits Times

26 November 2015

Singapore is open to greater cooperation with its neighbours in South-east Asia, as well as Australia, in the fight against theIslamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

He said the country will also continue to back the United States-led coalition as it steps up strikes against the terror group after the recent attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people. “We will help in whichever way we are able to,” he said. “But our view has always been that it’s not just the security approach, we have to take the approach of dealing with the ideology as well.”

Mr Teo was speaking to the media in Jakarta yesterday as he wrapped up a three-day working visit to Indonesia, where he met President Joko Widodo and Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Mr Luhut Pandjaitan, among others.

… Professor Rohan Gunaratna, who heads the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, was among experts who had previously called for greater regional cooperation to tackle ISIS.

He said the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance among the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Britain can be a model for Asean nations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. “You need regular interactions at a working level between not just intelligence chiefs, but also staff to build… rapport and trust.”

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