Malaysia, Philippines to set up 'forward base' in wake of abductions

From Channel News Asia (Jul 28): Malaysia, Philippines to set up 'forward base' in wake of abductions

Malaysia and the Philippines have agreed to form a forward operations base after a spate of recent abductions, it was announced on Thursday (Jul 28).

Speaking at the 36th ASEANAPOL conference, which aims to forge closer ties between police chiefs across Southeast Asia, Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the forward base would be used to tackle cross-border crime.

"We have agreed to work much more closer in terms of exchange of intelligence and information on movements of suspected people and things like that," he said.
"Of course, I was able to talk to my Philippines counterpart, and I think it was very successful, because we've agreed to establish a forward base in the Philippines side," he added. "Malaysia already has ours."

The announcement comes after the kidnapping of five Malaysian tugboat crewmen off the coast of Sabah by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants from the Southern Philippines earlier this month.

An agreement 10 years in the making was also signed at the conference, aiming to synergise efforts in the event of a terror attack, with the assistance of Interpol.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysia-philippines-to/2994270.html