O 231141Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1037
INFO ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
AMCONSUL SURABAYA PRIORITY 
NCTC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
JIATF WEST PRIORITY
NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY ANKARA 
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000425 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR S/CT, EAP/MTS, RSP 
PACOM FOR JIACG, JIATF-W, SOCPAC 
DHS POLICY FOR FUJIMORA 
USCG FOR ATTAMAN, CARUOLO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PREL MARR ID RP MY
SUBJECT: MALAYSIA HOSTS TRI-BORDER INTERAGENCY SECURITY 
CONFERENCE 
 
REF: KUALA LUMPUR 225 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Tri-border Interagency Security Conference in 
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, May 4-7, 2008 brought together 
official maritime and border security delegations from 
Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines as well as 
facilitators from the U.S. Pacific Command and from Embassies 
Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Singapore and Manila.  The small-group 
setting allowed for candid, intensive discussions and 
productive brainstorming.  The tri-border nations provided 
updated information on their respective efforts to improve 
security in the tri-border region, including increasing the 
frequency of cross-border committee exercises, developing 
civilian maritime law enforcement agencies, and enhancing 
their domain awareness, in part with USG support. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Building upon policy recommendations from the 
Trilateral Maritime Security Conference in Cebu, Philippines 
in August 2007, delegations identified additional actions 
that could be taken now to enhance capacity in the near-term. 
 Some of these included implementing existing information 
sharing agreements, improving interagency cooperation within 
and among tri-border nations, and establishing transit 
corridors.  Delegations described elements they believed 
necessary to achieve long-term regional security, including: 
updating border agreements to reflect non-traditional 
threats, developing more detailed analyses of the costs of 
regional insecurity, and exploring sectoral arrangements for 
coordinating regional patrols.  The tri-border conference, 
jointly funded by PACOM's Joint Interagency Coordination 
Group (JIACG) and the State Department Coordinator for 
Counterterrorism, demonstrated how U.S. interagency 
cooperation can support of the Administration's Southeast 
Asia Counterterrorism Regional Strategic Initiative.  End 
Summary. 
 
Overlapping Priorities in the Tri-border 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  In their opening presentations, the tri-border 
nations conveyed different, though overlapping security 
priorities.  The Indonesian delegation was led by Maj Gen 
Aryanto Boedihardjo, IG and Deputy Chief of the Indonesian 
National Police.  He identified smuggling, illegal fishing, 
armed robbery at sea, terrorism and a worsening economic 
situation as causes for growing concern over stability in the 
tri-border region.  He recognized that the border between 
Indonesia and Malaysia has yet to be clarified.  The 
Indonesian delegation signaled the need for greater 
interagency cooperation between police, customs and the 
Coordinating Body for Maritime Law Enforcement (BAKORKAMLA). 
It also highlighted the need for improved patrol and 
communications capabilities.  While some practical bilateral 
security agreements had been worked out between police 
forces, the delegation called for border committees to 
enhance their interagency participation, expanding beyond 
their origins as military-to-military forums.  Finally, 
Indonesia announced the recent decision to form the Sea and 
Coast Guard, but noted that details about the new 
organization would have to await further legislation. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  The leader of the Malaysian delegation, RADM Dato' 
Jamil bin Osman, Joint Forces Headquarters Chief of Staff, 
spoke of the geo-strategic importance of the Sulu and Celebes 
seas as home to important sea lanes of communication and 
critical natural and economic resources.  He recognized the 
need for more concrete outcomes from coordination, 
highlighting interagency efforts both internal to the GOM - 
as in the development of its Government Interoperable Radio 
 
 
Network - as well as those involving donor assistance - such 
as with the USG Title 1206 radar program.  While the 
delegation mentioned existing bilateral agreements and 
frameworks, some of which had recently seen increases in the 
tempo of joint cross-border operations, it also noted the 
lack of trilateral arrangements.  The delegation signaled 
that certain multilateral forums might prove useful over the 
longer-term, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum for addressing 
security issues and the Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Philippines 
East Asia Growth Area's Customs Immigration Quarantine and 
Security (BIMP/EAGA-CIQS) cluster for consideration of 
port/border safety issues. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  The Philippine delegation head, Navy Captain Miguel 
Rodriguez, Director of the Coast Watch South Liaison Office, 
spoke of the tri-border region as vitally important for 
regional commerce, natural resources, fisheries, and tourism. 
 He catalogued safety threats, including lack of 
infrastructure and aids to navigation; economic threats, 
including piracy, smuggling, and trafficking; environmental 
threats, including dynamite fishing and pollution; and 
security threats linked to terrorism and the MILF insurgency. 
 While threats are manifold, the delegation noted the recent 
absence of major incidents, signaling that important "things 
are being done right."  In this connection, the Philippines 
delegation cited numerous efforts to coordinate border 
patrols, exercises, and port security.  The delegation 
discussed slow but resolute progress to create Coast Watch 
South as a single point of contact and coordination for 
maritime law enforcement activity in the Philippines' portion 
of the tri-border region. 
 
Picking Up From Cebu 
-------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Drawing on the recommendations from the third 
Trilateral Maritime Security Conference held in Cebu, 
Philippines in August 2007, former Philippine Defense Under 
Secretary Rodel Cruz explored measures to close the gap 
between long-standing bilateral agreements and a nascent 
trilateral framework.  Cruz first underscored the context of 
major unilateral developments around the tri-border: creation 
of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), 
increased deployment of security forces in Sabah to safeguard 
the region's tourism industry and counter terrorist transit; 
Indonesia's recent creation of BAKORKAMLA and the Sea and 
Coast Guard; and the Philippines' development of Coast Watch 
South. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Cruz highlighted the increasing frequency of 
bilateral operations and encouraged cross-boarder committees 
to develop interagency standard operating procedures, single 
points of contact, and information sharing agreements.  He 
pointed to a number of bilateral initiatives: a recent 
agreement to increase Malaysia/Philippines joint border 
control operations from two to three times yearly; and the 
exchange of immigration personnel at border crossing points 
between Indonesia and the Philippines.  Malaysia's Chief of 
Defense Forces recently announced the intention to consider 
using the "Eyes in the Sky" joint air patrol program, 
currently in the Straits of Malacca, along the land border 
between Malaysia and Indonesia on Borneo. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Cruz noted that, compared to the areas within the 
region that are "bilateral," the portion of the region that 
is "trilateral" is quite small.   He suggested that 
unilateral and bilateral trends belie slower progress within 
the trilateral arena.  He spoke of the continuing need, six 
years to the day after it was signed, to operationalize the 
May 7, 2002 Agreement on Information Exchange and 
Establishment of Communication Procedures.  The Agreement 
covers a range of border security and transnational crimes, 
 
 
such as terrorism, money laundering, smuggling, piracy, 
trafficking, marine pollution, etc.  Cruz also singled out 
multilateral agreements such as the 2007 ASEAN Convention on 
Counterterrorism, BIMP/EAGA and The Regional Cooperation 
Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships 
in Asia (ReCAAP).  Finally, he suggested leveraging 
trilateral cooperation in the Straights of Malacca, 
encouraging the parties to the MALSINDO agreement to allow 
Philippines observers. 
 
Cooperation and Near-Term Capacity Building 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU)  PACOM Future Operations and Plans Specialist, CAPT 
USCG (ret.) Steve Newell addressed the conference on 
fundamental aspects of building security capacity.  Only a 
small part of the solution could be found using technology, 
he stressed.  The need for cooperation exists regardless of 
the level of technology, and the present phase, during which 
equipment was still being acquired, offered an important 
window to improve interagency and international cooperation. 
Newell stressed that interagency coordination was necessary 
in order to effectively use situational awareness to 
interdict and eventually successfully prosecute transnational 
criminals.  He noted the inverse relationship between the 
abundance of resources and the propensity to cooperate, but 
cautioned that the situation of any one agency was dynamic 
and likely to shift as responsibilities and authorities 
placed upon it were adjusted to reflect its resources. 
Delegations were divided into country groups along with 
facilitators from PACOM and from the respective embassy teams 
and asked to identifying short lists of policy or process 
improvements that would allow for near-term capacity 
improvements. 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Malaysia's delegation suggested: extending the 
Agreement on the Prevention of Incidents On and Over the High 
Seas (INCSEA) to include all government vessels, not just 
naval assets.  It also proposed conducting a regional study 
to identify the costs of failing to counter illegal activity 
in the tri-border region.  The group suggested establishing 
better interagency information sharing processes that could 
be introduced within bi- or tri-lateral forums such as the 
general border committees.  It also recommended conducting 
operations to enable documentation of the extent of illegal 
fishing and of smuggling.  Lastly it proposed establishing 
transit corridors linked to border crossing posts. 
 
¶11. (SBU)  For its part, the Philippines' delegation 
recommended improvements to its own interagency cooperation 
within Coast Watch South.  In particular, the delegation 
suggested introducing standard operating procedures for 
information sharing to prevent individual agencies being 
caught off-guard by the efforts of others.  The delegation 
proposed increasing the specificity of the Coast Watch South 
Executive Order.  Finally, it suggested expanding the mandate 
of border crossing committees to include broader interagency 
participation from both sides. 
 
¶12. (SBU)  The Indonesian delegation expressed an eagerness 
to generate more robust protocols for its internal 
interagency interoperability and information sharing.  It 
resolved to press for high-level support for implementation 
of the 2002 Agreement on Information Sharing.  It also 
supported the identification of single points of contact for 
border security.  Lastly, it suggested establishing a 
technical working group to provide continuity between 
previous and future meetings and to prepare for the next 
Trilateral Maritime Security Conference which will be held in 
Indonesia.  The group will consist of representatives from 
the Foreign Ministry, BAKORKAMLA, the Department of 
Fisheries, police, military, the newly established Sea and 
Coast Guard, and other interested organizations. 
 
The Vision Thing 
---------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU)  Having identified specific suggestions for 
addressing near-term capacity building needs in each 
tri-border country, the delegations were divided into two 
multi-national interagency groups to explore various elements 
comprising their medium- and longer-term visions of the 
tri-border region.  The delegates were asked to make 
non-binding recommendations that could guide specific future 
policy actions. 
 
¶14. (SBU)  Using the Straits of Malacca as an example for 
coordination success, both among littoral nations as well as 
for user nations or "donors," the delegations means of 
improving cooperation in the Sulu/Celebes Seas region. 
Delegates agreed on the need to document the economic impact 
of failing to improve regional security.  Tri-border 
delegates drew the analogy from the Straits, where Lloyds of 
London's war-risk rating, by clearly articulating the costs 
associated with unresolved problems of piracy, catalyzed 
political commitment to cooperatively address shared security 
issues.  Delegates agreed an important next-step was for each 
country to commission a national-level economic impact study 
detailing positive and negative consequences of improving 
regional security versus preserving the status quo of 
maritime, port and border security in the Sulu and Celebes 
Seas.  Delegates also suggested that the three nations might 
pool their data within a common analytical framework and 
compare the results from the national-level studies.  All 
three delegations stressed the value of using the results of 
such studies to inform political decision-making affecting 
legal and policy arrangements for cooperation as well as 
funding decisions about upgrading and improving security 
resources.  In addition to an overarching economic analysis 
and national studies, the delegations suggested analyses 
focused on establishment of sea corridors linked to border 
crossing stations; a vessel registry data exchange; a vessel 
traffic management system; and new biometric systems for 
border crossing documentation.  All called for implementation 
of the 2002 Agreement on Information Exchange and 
Establishment of Communications Procedures. 
 
¶15. (SBU)  Both break-out groups recognized that the ability 
to promote wider interagency collaboration across borders 
would need to begin at home with more robust forums within 
each nation to foster interagency relationship building. 
Accordingly, delegates voiced the need to update their 
current border agreements to suit non-traditional, 
transnational security challenges in order to better reflect 
the current threat environment.  They imagined that in the 
future, tri-border states would conduct continuous, 
coordinated patrols under such revised border agreements. 
They suggested developing regional training standards, 
exchanges, curricula and facilities to include coastal issues 
and integrate civilian enforcement personnel.  They proposed 
adopting continuous improvement of interagency coordination 
processes, drawing lessons from neighboring states.   They 
suggested establishing crossing corridors aligned with 
"joint" or co-staffed border crossing stations.  The 
delegations additionally proposed developing and refining 
proximate sectors or "Areas of Responsibility" assigned to 
each nation and coordinating air and maritime patrols of 
those sectors in a manner similar to that used in the Straits 
of Malacca (i.e. MALSINDO and "Eyes in the Sky").  Delegates 
proposed the name "MALPHILINDO" for such a proximate 
"sectoring" arrangement and combined patrols.  Finally, 
delegations recommended combined multi-agency table-tops and 
exercises to support long-term multinational interoperability 
of communications platforms and systems. 
 
 
¶16. (SBU)  Strengthening sustainability through the 
cultivation of greater civic responsibility represented 
another thread running through the discussion.  Delegates 
emphasized the need to develop effective feedback mechanisms 
to authorities from affected populations through, for 
example, broader use of "community based policing" and 
neighborhood watch-type organizations.  They discussed 
establishing rewards programs in conjunction with enhanced 
public involvement, awareness and education regarding border 
and environmental protection issues.  They proposed providing 
incentives for responsible tourism activity and community 
involvement in local tourism development, including 
"homegrown" specialties such as dive masters, local guides, 
craft producers, and managers of sustainable marine 
resources.  Longer-term, they envisioned developing 
coordinated multi-year regional sustainable economic 
development programs along with public education curricula 
for the next generation to include environmental protection, 
sustainable development, and coastal resource management. 
 
¶17. (SBU)  The two groups proposed making better use of 
existing multilateral forums.  For safety and trade-related 
issues, they agreed that there was more that could be done in 
the context of the BIMP-EAGA CIQS cluster.  They proposed 
establishing procedures for expediting perishable goods 
through single shared checkpoints (instead of through two 
distinct national ones).  They encouraged reviewing lists of 
prohibited goods and sharing them across borders.  Regarding 
security-related issues, the groups proposed supporting the 
development of an ASEAN maritime forum.  They also proposed 
tailoring existing exercises to address the development of 
multilateral capabilities.  The groups suggested that work 
continue to ensure compliance with international cargo, sea 
and airport security standards (ISPS/CSI/ICAO); to 
operationalize the Information Sharing Center under ReCAAP; 
and to expand shared databases (ASEANPOL).  Other suggestions 
included: supporting the Sulu-Sulawesi Large Marine 
Eco-Region Project; enforcing the Illegal, Unregulated, 
Unreported (IUU) Fishing Convention; ratifying and enforcing 
the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands; and establishing a portion 
(or portions) of the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea as a "Particularly 
Sensitive Sea Area" (PSSA) or Marine Environmental High Risk 
Area (MERA). 
 
Delegations 
----------- 
 
¶18. (U)  The Malaysian hosts had the largest delegation.  It 
was led by RADM Dato' Jamil bin Osman, Joint Forces 
Headquarters Chief of Staff and included: Abd Rahim Hussin, 
NSC Under Secretary for Maritime Policy; FADM Martitime 
Zulkifli bin Abu Baker, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement 
Agency; Deputy Director Tuan Rosdi bin Mudah, Royal Malaysian 
Customs; ACP Abd Manaf bin Othman, Royal Malaysian Marine 
Police; ACP Ahmad bin Haji Kenajaan, Royal Malaysian Police 
Special Branch; Rizany Irwan bin Ishak, MFA Principal A/S for 
Maritime Affairs; and Hamza bin Ishak, NSC Principal A/S for 
Maritime Policy. 
 
¶19. (U)  The Indonesian delegation was led by Maj Gen Aryanto 
Boedihardjo, IG and Deputy Chief of the Indonesian National 
Police Uniformed Patrol Division.  It included: High 
Commissioner Isnarno, Deputy Commander of the National Police 
Maritime Police Unit; Jonggung Sitorus, Transport Department 
Chief of Marine Safety; and Hendi Santosa, Law and Human 
Rights Department Chief of the Sub-Directorate of Law of the 
Sea and Air. 
 
¶20. (U)  The Philippines' delegation was led by Philippine 
Navy Captain Miguel Rodriguez, Director of the Coast Watch 
South Liaison Office.  It included: Senior Superintendent 
 
 
Ferdinand Yuzon, Chief of Staff of the Philippine Maritime 
Group (PMG); Chief Inspector Oliver Tanseco, PMG Chief of 
Operations and Plans; Winston Almeda, MFA Special Assistant 
to the U/S for Ocean Concerns; Marine Major Marcelino, 
Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency; and Jesse Pascsio, Coast 
Watch South researcher. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶21. (SBU)  While the many near- and longer-term 
recommendations tabled by the conference delegates were 
non-binding, at least two of the delegations are forming 
groups to follow-up on the conference outcomes.  One of the 
recurring themes among the recommendations was the need for a 
broader interagency approach to tri-border security.  Working 
together, embassy teams and PACOM can leverage events such as 
this conference, exercises, and ongoing capacity and 
resource-building programs (e.g. Titles 1206/1207/1210) to 
reinforce in practice a whole of government approach with our 
host nation counterparts.  On the sixth anniversary of its 
signing, the tri-border delegations recognized the continuing 
need to implement the 2002 Agreement on Information Exchange 
and Establishment of Communication Procedures.  Embassies and 
Washington might consider whether and how to help focus 
tri-border governments' attention on the benefits of 
implementing this agreement. 
 
¶22. (SBU)  Delegations acknowledged the political benefit of 
quantifying costs linked to insecurity in the tri-border 
area, as was done in the Straits of Malacca.  They noted that 
such a clearly-articulated cost of insecurity in the 
tri-border region was lacking, and wondered whether it could 
be quantified.  A question worthy of USG interagency 
consultation would be whether we could provide or help fund a 
well-focused, action-oriented research project that would be 
useful to the tri-border countries as they seek to analyze 
and to derive clear policy conclusions about the opportunity 
costs of continued regional threats. 
 
¶23. (SBU)  Looking ahead to the next Trilateral meeting in 
late 2008, we are eager to learn more about the Indonesian 
delegation's pledge to create a technical working group to 
prepare for the trilateral conference, and how we may be of 
support.  Delegations and USG partners are keen to take stock 
of recommendations made to date and to assess tangible 
progress toward implementation.  The Kota Kinabalu conference 
showed that all participants are well-served by early, 
cooperative engagement not only to establish parity and broad 
interagency representation among delegations, but also to lay 
the groundwork for concrete outcomes from the proceedings. 
END COMMENT. 
 
¶24. (U)  This cable has been cleared by Embassies Kuala 
Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, and DHS/Singapore, USPACOM/JIACG and 
SOCPAC. 
 
KEITH