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C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 010090 
 
 
KUALA LUMPUR FOR CT COORDINATOR GREG CHAMPMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/13/2020 
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINS PREL AS JP MY ID BE CB
SUBJECT: TRILATERAL STRATEGIC DIALOGUE ON 
COUNTERTERRORISM 
 
Classified by SCT DAS Shari Villarosa, S/CT. Reason: 1.4(b), 
(c),(d), and (g) 
 
REF: STATE 122702 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Officials from the U.S., Japan, and 
Australia met in Tokyo on December 14-15 for the fifth 
annual Trilateral Strategic Dialogue Counterterrorism 
consultations.  Four working groups reviewed past 
collaboration and laid the groundwork for several joint 
projects aimed at bolstering counterterrorism efforts in 
Southeast Asia in the near future.  Key among future 
efforts were: capacity-building projects stemming from 
the needs assessment for the Philippines port sector, a 
proposed regional forum on biological risk analysis, and 
support for a regional law enforcement center for South 
Asia similar to the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement 
Cooperation.  The participants also discussed prison 
reform in Indonesia and countering violent extremism. 
All parties agreed that coordination between Embassies in 
the region would be key to successful outcomes.  End 
Summary. 
 
Port, Border and Maritime Security 
 
¶2. (C)In this working group, the three sides reviewed 
existing activities in Southeast Asia and discussed 
future opportunities for trilateral action.  Australia 
proposed that a review be conducted of the original 2007 
needs assessment for the Philippines to determine what 
has been accomplished, and what gaps remain. Japan and 
the U.S. agreed to support this idea. Recognizing the 
continuing vulnerability of the aviation sector , 
parties also agreed to request their respective 
Embassies in Manila jointly demarche the Philippine 
government to support passage of a bill strengthening 
the authorities of the Office of Transport Security. 
The parties agreed on the importance of  improving 
interagency coordination between relevant Indonesian 
entities responsible for border and maritime security . 
The U.S. tabled a proposal to consolidate upcoming 
trilateral training efforts in Indonesia, which 
Australia and Japan agreed to consider.  All sides 
agreed that they would determine at a later date if the 
aviation security sector offered an opening for 
trilateral work. Turning to Malaysia, parties 
recommended greater consultation among the Embassies 
there on respective working relationships.  The 
Australian delegation said efforts to assist Cambodia in 
taking steps to establish a maritime security authority 
have stalled.  All parties agreed to ask Embassies in 
Phnom Penh to discuss how to galvanize the GoC.  Japan 
asked for and received support in principle to work out 
details of initiating a joint submission on port 
facility security plans "best practices" for the APEC 
Counter-Terrorism Taskforce. The working group 
emphasized the importance of  local information sharing 
by Embassies in the region as crucial to success. 
 
CBRN 
 
¶3. (C) Delegates in the CBRN group discussed their 
respective countries'CBRN counterterrorism engagement 
to Southeast Asia and assessed specific activities, 
including the Chemical Safety and Security Workshop held 
in Canberra; the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, 
Nuclear and Explosives Consequence Seminar in Singapore; 
and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Workshop on 
Biological Threat Reduction in Manila.  The session 
participants also explored how to encourage greater 
participation among Southeast Asian nations in the 
Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) 
and how to encourage greater International Atomic Energy 
Agency outreach on nuclear security to countries in 
Southeast Asia.  The session concluded with the 
panelists agreeing to: 
 
--follow up on the recent Manila ARF bio-threat 
reduction workshop with an ARF biological risk analysis 
workshop. 
 
--follow up on the June 2009 Canberra chemical safety 
and security seminar with a similar one in Manila 
focused on small- and medium-sized enterprises in the 
Philippines (to include participants from the region). 
 
--discuss how best to raise awareness among Indonesian 
business entities of the importance of controlling 
access to explosives precursors (possibly holding a 
workshop in late 2010-2011). 
 
--explore possible coordination of a workshop on 
countering terrorism financing and money laundering 
focused on terrorist efforts to fund acquisition of CBRN 
materials in South Asia under the GICNT. 
 
--explore the incorporation of improving nuclear 
governance, including safety, security, and safeguards, 
in the Southeast Asia region as part of the Nuclear 
Security Summit discussion, possibly in coordination 
with the GICNT. 
 
Legal, Law Enforcement and Terror Finance 
 
¶4. (C) All parties agreed on the need to strengthen 
legal frameworks in Southeast Asia and the importance of 
terrorist listings and asset freezing under UN 
Resolutions 1267 and 1373.  Australia proposed holding a 
regional workshop in early 2010 on the implementation of 
those two resolutions.  The Australian delegation 
relayed plans by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to 
hold workshops in the near-term to strengthen legal 
frameworks and urged the Trilateral partners to consider 
supporting this initiative.  Law enforcement assistance 
was  flowing into the region, but as the Australian 
chair of the delegation noted, the needs were "endless". 
Some noteworthy examples of the discussion: 
--The U.S. delegation noted gaps in prosecutorial 
development, which Resident Legal Advisor program 
in several countries had been able to address. 
-- The Australians noted their continued 
involvement in Indonesia and noted the need for 
continued prison de-radicalization programs. 
-- Australia discussed the creation of a regional 
center for law enforcement for South Asia, similar 
to the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement 
Cooperation.  They said the EU would conduct a 
feasibility study, after which the U.S. and 
Japanese might consider supporting with the 
Australians.  The proposed center would most likely 
be located in Dhaka. 
-- The Japanese reviewed their contribution to a 
community policing initiative in Indonesia as well 
as a capacity enhancing initiative for firearms 
control in the Philippines. 
 
All parties agreed that  "a good superstructure" existed 
on terror finance, but doubts remained as to the ability 
of countries in the region to implement terror finance 
measures. 
 
Counter-Radicalization 
 
¶5. (C) At the closing plenary, the difficult problem of 
counter-radicalization resulted in a lively discussion 
and areas of noted interest, but fewer suggestions for 
concrete joint action.  The parties agreed that de- 
radicalization remains "the last broken ground" 
intellectually.  However, in the working group, parties 
stressed repeatedly that Embassy-generated on-the-ground 
knowledge should be critical in making decisions, and 
that "one-size-fits-all" solutions will not work in the 
region. 
 
¶6. (C) Four general pressure points were raised as 
useful areas for potential action: prisons, youth and 
education, women's groups, and the media/internet.  The 
Australian delegation said they focus outreach as much 
as possible on hard-line entities, but conceded that 
those groups often refuse contact.  The participants 
welcomed the U.S. suggestion for intelligence-generated 
community-level micro-focus; the Japanese delegation 
head confirmed "providing focused assistance to 
communities of our choice makes sense."  Outreach to 
mainstream communities received mixed reviews.  The 
parties agreed that supporting moderate schools to 
increase educational options was worthwhile.  However, 
moderate appeals had limitations when hard-line 
communities dismiss them as not representative of local 
views.  Concrete suggestions included: 
 
-- Japan assists ASEAN in developing a database of 
radical websites, and urged the others to consider 
joining Japan.  All parties cited sensitivity about 
outright removal of such sites. 
 
-- Prisons and rehabilitation of convicted 
terrorists: Australia said supporting Indonesian 
prison reform in general has value as "one tide 
lifts all boats." 
 
-- Aid organizations should be encouraged to 
include counter-radicalization as one criterion in 
choosing aid projects. 
 
--Empowering local forces to take on counter- 
radicalization "should be a focus for all of us" 
emerged as the overarching theme. 
 
¶7. (C) Comment:  The Trilateral partners share common CT 
goals.  The discussions  on CBRN, legal issues and 
countering violent extremism should help strengthen 
counterterrorism cooperation.  The U.S. and Australia 
welcomed the more active engagement of Japan in the 
process, particularly in considering expanding our 
cooperation beyond Southeast Asia.  Ultimately success 
will depend on the ability of our respective  Embassies 
on-the-ground to coordinate  assistance and development 
programs to achieve our common goals.  End Comment 
 
¶8. (U) U.S. delegates to the CT consultations included 
Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism Daniel 
Benjamin, Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism Shari 
Villarosa, ISN DAS Eliot Kang, DHS DAS Mariko Silver, 
INL Asia Team Leader Amy Carlon, Resident Legal Adviser 
(Jakarta) Terry Kinney, FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction 
Directorate Adviser Barbara Ditoto, Embassy Manila 
Political External Affairs Chief Philip Thompson, 
Embassy Jakarta Deputy Political Chief Daniel Rochman, 
ISN's Randall Beisecker and Carson Kuo, EXBS' Rachel 
Owen, Japan Desk Officer David Jeppesen, DS/ATA 
Curriculum Chief Tom Evans, Embassy Tokyo Assistant ICE 
Attache Frank Okamura, Embassy Tokyo U.S. Coast Guard 
representatives LTCDR Jason Flennoy and Lt. David 
Negron-Alicea and S/CT Programs' Dan Rosen. 
 
 
CLINTON