Australia is closely working with the Philippines and Indonesia to improve counter-terrorism activities in Southeast Asia , Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said.

Members of the Australian defence forces were working in the Philippines to help the country improve defence intelligence and participate in annual hostage recovery exercises, Defence Minister Nelson said. Others were deployed with Filipino troops on small patrol boats and surveyed the troubled southern province of Mindanao . This province is home to terror groups such as Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiah, he added.

"Whatever the economic, cultural and political differences between the countries in our region, we face a common enemy and that is terrorists, many of whom have hijacked the Islamic faith for evil ends," the influential newspaper The Australian quoted the Minister as saying.

According to the minister, the Australian Defence Ministry restored links with Indonesia 's special units on counter-hijack and hostage recovery training.

Australia was conducting an annual exercise with Singapore to deal with chemical, biological and radioactive weapons, he said.
Source: VNA