VIENTIANE, July 29: Foreign ministers at Asia’s largest security dialogue spoke out on Friday against tendencies to stereotype Muslims as possible terrorists, addressing growing concern among the group’s Islamic members. Muslim nations at the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) in Vientiane, Lao, have complained that Muslims are being singled out in investigations into attacks and even at immigration checkpoints.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Thursday his country was concerned at the increasing profiling, particularly by the West, of Muslims as terrorists.

“We are worried about the profiling,” he was quoted as saying in Vientiane by the official Malaysian news agency Bernama. Syed Hamid complained that the suspicion fell on Muslims immediately after attacks, with police raiding their houses and publicising their pictures.

Muslims were also accosted at immigration counters because of their “Muslim looks”, he said. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer termed the tendency misguided.

“There is a feeling that we need to make sure that we are not in any ways, as an international community, directing our wrath against Muslims as such,” said Mr Downer.

Anger must be directed “against criminals and terrorists,” he said on the sidelines of annual talks of the ARF, which gathers the foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and global giants such as the United States, European Union, China and Japan. People of all religious faiths should “work together to make sure that those people who commit these acts of murder of innocent people are brought to justice.”

Asean includes the world’s biggest Muslim nation, Indonesia. Other mostly Muslim nations in the body are Brunei and Malaysia.

The Asean Regional Forum, which wrapped up its annual talks on Friday, also includes Pakistan, which has been trying to root out militants believed to be based in its tribal regions.

Malaysia’s Syed Hamid said he had raised his concerns about the stereotyping of Muslims with the European Union.

European foreign policy chief Javier Solana also addressed the issue in Vientiane, saying that the fight against terrorism should focus not only on the militants and their networks, but also on the “root cause” of the problem.

This can be done “through education and through better understanding of each other’s faiths and societies,” Solana said.—AFP

Qudssia Akhlaque adds from Islamabad: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on Friday signed a joint declaration with Asean on combating terrorism, at the 12th ARF Ministerial Meeting in Vientiane, Laos.

The Asean chair informed Mr Kasuri that consensus on Pakistan’s request for full dialogue partnership with the bloc was fast emerging, according to a foreign office statement issued here on Friday.

Speaking at the ministerial meeting, the foreign minister said: “Fight against terrorism cannot be won without addressing the root causes that germinate terrorism. Terrorism has no borders and no religion. There could be no justification for terrorism. However, we must take cognizance of the root causes such as denial of freedom and justice and flagrant abuse of international law and fundamental rights. We need comprehensive cooperation to root out terrorism.”

Acknowledging and appreciating the ARF’s contribution in promoting regional peace and stability, he called for more cooperation and consultation among all members of the international community to usher in an era of stability, security and prosperity, the statement said.

The process of greater regional and sub-regional cooperation, Mr Kasuri said, offered opportunities for changing the context of Asian security.

SIDELINE MEETINGS: On the margins of the ministerial meeting, Mr Kasuri met Asean Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong and Foreign Minister of Thailand Dr Kanthathi Suphamongkhon, Foreign Minister of Malaysia Dato Hamid Albar and Foreign Minister of Cambodia Hor Namhong to discuss issues of mutual concern.