Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad promised to fight "cross-border terrorism" at a summit meeting here Monday.
"Megawati expressed concerns about cross-border terrorist activities," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told a news conference after the two leaders had met for an hour.
Gun-running to separatist groups in Indonesia's Aceh province and growing Islamic militancy in Malaysia were the focus of the concerns, Syed Hamid indicated.
"Aceh is part of Indonesia. We will continue to respect Indonesia's sovereignty over Aceh," the foreign minister quoted Mahathir as saying.
Malaysia has in the past been blamed for the smuggling of arms into Aceh.
The prime minister also briefed Megawati, who is on the last leg of a Southeast Asian tour, on a Malaysian Islamic organisation known as "Malaysian Mujahideen Group" which has been linked to bomb attacks in Jakarta.
"Indonesia wanted to know about how we could intensify cooperation among countries that can be susceptible to such activities," Syed Hamid said.
"They concluded that there was definitely a need for close cooperation and exchange of intelligence and information.
"The leaders agreed to exchange information at all levels because this was a good defence to prevent these things from happening."
Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has warned that Malaysia is seen as a new centre for Islamic terrorism, saying foreigners were concerned about rising militant activities in the country.
Abdullah's remarks came amid revelations that four Muslim Malaysians are suspected of involvement in a series of bombings in Indonesia.
Malaysian newspapers reported police were investigating whether the four had links to the Malaysian Mujahideen Group.
Ten alleged members of the group, including seven members of the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), were detained last month under the Internal Security Act which allows detention without trial.
PAS is the main opposition party in Malaysia and accuses Mahathir's government of trying to label its members as militant extremists to curb the party's appeal among ethnic Malays.
Syed Hamid said the talks between Mahathir and Megawati were "friendly and very close".
He said a number of issues were discussed, including illegal immigration into Malaysia by Indonesians.
Mahathir told Megawati he did not want Indonesian workers to come in illegally, and she agreed, Syed Hamid said.
The Malaysian government last week proposed whipping illegal immigrants, many of whom are from Indonesia.
There are about 600,000 illegal immigrants in Malaysia, which is also home to around 700,000 legal foreign workers. A weakened economy has led to job cuts and calls for curbs on immigration.
Mahathir told Megawati Malaysian businessmen were keen to invest in Indonesia and he was happy to hear from Megawati that the situation in Jakatra was back to normal.
Syed Hamid said the two leaders agreed to visit each other's countries on alternate years to maintain close cooperation.
Megawati, who was sworn in last month after her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid was ousted by parliament, was accompanied by her husband Taufiq Kiemas, Foreign Minister Noer Hassan Wirajuda and a 60-member delegation.
She has visited all other members of ASEAN during her week-long tour, her first foreign trip since taking office, and is due to return home Tuesday.
The other members of ASEAN are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- KUALA LUMPUR (AFP)
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