CANBERRA, Australia, June 28 (UPI) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised Australia stepped up counter-terrorism efforts.
The pledge - which included increased surveillance and pre-emptive police action - was made to Australian Prime Minister John Howard during long discussions earlier this week on the island of Batam, The Australian reported Wednesday.
"Indonesia and Australia ... are natural partners as we stand side by side in fighting this common enemy," Yudhoyono said.
"We are also committed to implement all international obligations and conventions to eradicate terrorism and to bring those engaged in violent criminal acts to justice."
A central subject in the talks was the release from an Indonesian prison earlier this month Jemaah Islamiah spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir, who served 25 months of a 30-month sentence for condoning the 2002 bomb attacks on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people. Eighty-eight of the victims were Australian.
Jemaah Islamiah, with ties to al-Qaida, is Asia's deadliest terror organization and has a working alliance with the Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines.
Bashir's early release has stirred anger in Australia and calls for strict monitoring of Bashir.
