TRILATERAL COUNTERTERRORISM MEETING WITH AUSTRALIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000458 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/08/2017 TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL MY SUBJECT: TRILATERAL COUNTERTERRORISM MEETING WITH AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Mark Clark for reasons 1. 4 (b and d). ¶1. (SBU) The Australian High Commission hosted a trilateral meeting with U.S. and Japanese embassies on January 17 to discuss CT cooperation and assistance issues in Malaysia. Each mission was represented at the DCM level and included representatives from political, economic, defense, and security offices. The U.S. and Australian delegations included public diplomacy officers as well. The meeting complemented the Embassy's ongoing coordination among significant CT donors, particularly Australia, the UK and Canada. The U.S. Embassy will host the next trilateral coordination meeting in late March. -------------- Australia -------------- ¶2. (C) The Australian team, led by Deputy High Commissioner Peter Doyle, described their extensive efforts to engage Malaysia, particularly in relation to the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and export controls. They discussed Malaysia's effective representation as observers in the last major PSI exercise, Pacific Protector 06, and the perception that, while Malaysia was not ready to sign on as a PSI partner, they were somewhat more comfortable with the principles behind PSI. The Australians indicated their intention to persuade Malaysia to remain engaged in PSI, even if their participation remained as observers. They also announced a bilateral export control dialogue with Malaysia that subsequently took place on March 1. In a follow up meeting, Australian poloff revealed that the meeting between Malaysian and Australian experts showed that GOM was making progress in their conceptual development of an export control regime, as the GOM came prepared with highly relevant technical questions for the ir Australian interlocutors. ¶3. (C) Australia also discussed the training they have planned and have recently provided to Malaysian authorities, including AUSTRAC CT-finance training through APEC and document fraud and examination training that was facilitated by the addition of a new immigration position at their embassy. The Australians reviewed their customs officials' efforts to engage and provide training and equipment to Malaysian police, customs and immigration in Eastern Sabah. Australian customs' subsequent meetings have revealed Malaysian officials concerns with the program as currently developed, which led to the GOM turning down a significant assistance package. Australian officials intend to revise their proposal and move forward despite the setback. -------------- Japan -------------- ¶4. (C) Japan's delegation, led by DCM Kayuzuki Katayama, noted Japanese efforts to assist Malaysia in the areas of maritime and port security. Japan has provided the nascent Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) with training and equipment, including at least one vessel, and is utilizing the presence of their Coast Guard Attach and a Coast Guard officer seconded to the MMEA to assist in developing that agency. Japanese defense forces have also provided seminars to Malaysian military officials on security issues and plan to continue those efforts with a focus on maritime security. Japan continues to provide customs and immigration training and equipment through a longstanding regional initiative and has a customs officer posted at their embassy in Kuala Lumpur. ¶5. (C) Since the January meeting, Japanese embassy officials have made clear that there is not an officer at their embassy charged with focusing on or coordinating CT issues. Outside of maritime and commercial-related initiatives, Japan's activities are limited. They do continue to offer courses through the Southeast Regional Center for Counterterrorism (SEARCCT) that focus on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) response training and have sponsored Malaysian officers to travel for similar training in Japan. On the public diplomacy front, Katayama indicated that Japan's lack of historical confrontation with the nations of the Muslim world provided them with an opportunity to play an effective role in counter radicalization initiatives, though he did not specify such Japanese efforts in Malaysia. -------------- KUALA LUMP 00000458 002 OF 002 U.S. -------------- ¶6. (C) The U.S. Mission reported on the broad range of its engagement in CT assistance and related efforts. The U.S. remains the largest international donor of training, utilizing SEARCCT and other regional forums as well U.S.-based training programs. The U.S. is also the largest military partner with Malaysia and has significantly increased ship visits to Malaysia. The U.S. military continues to engage Malaysia's armed forces and law enforcement through training and exercises. We reported that Malaysian sensitivities regarding training in Sabah had slowed some areas of cooperation, but had not resulted in a significant setback in overall cooperation. We outlined our activities in Eastern Sabah through the Border Control Assessment Initiative and the planned provision of radars to the Malaysian Armed Forces through proposed 1206 funding. We explained the success of the Container Security Initiative in Malaysia and the move toward the Megaports Initiative. We indicated our desire to pursue regional coun ter radicalization objectives to enhance the programs in place now and offered to share the results of recent opinion polling with our Japanese and Australian counterparts. -------------- Areas of Greatest Common Interest -------------- ¶7. (C) All sides agreed that the raft of CT-related legislation Malaysia has in process will require in some cases significant institutional development in order for Malaysian authorities to apply these laws. Each side indicated their desire to engage the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP),Attorney General's office, MMEA, Customs and Immigration authorities to ensure effective legislation is both drafted and implemented. As one example, the final passage of CT laws expected this year opens up the possibility that Malaysia could begin to prosecute terrorists heretofore held without trial under Internal Security Act (ISA) detention. However, Malaysian police and prosecutors did not appear prepared professionally to utilize these laws. The discussion noted that Commonwealth countries were best placed to provide assistance to Malaysian investigators and prosecutors for developing CT cases, due to the similarities in their respective legal systems. ¶8. (C) Export control legislation that is currently in the interagency review process was seen as an area of potential for the embassies to provide coordinated assistance. Australia and the U.S. expressed particular interest in following the development and implementation of new CT, money laundering and CT-financing legislation. PSI was an area where Australia has been taking the lead but that Japan felt it could increase involvement. All sides noted concern with the MMEA's slow pace of development and the U.S. indicated its desire for more engagement, perhaps through the U.S. Coast Guard. The meeting alerted U.S. and Australian officials to a possible conflict in fraudulent document training that has since been resolved and opened the door to collaboration in the near future. ¶9. (U) Embassy participants have continued to follow up with their working level Australian and Japanese counterparts in preparation for a follow up meeting hosted by the U.S. Embassy in late March. SHEAR