PHNOM PENH A US-proposed regional anti-terrorism centre to be set up in Malaysia early next year may be opened to countries outside Southeast Asia, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said today.

He said final details for the Asean Regional Training Centre for Counter Terrorism were being ironed out but he reiterated it would not involve military operations.

"The idea is to get Asean countries to focus on training and capacity building," he told reporters here ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders' summit tomorrow.

"It does not involve military. It does not involve activities that pertain to security. It is just to develop expertise for us to combat terrorist activities and to allow us to understand the subject better to mete out the necessary measures.

"It will be open to all the countries in the region or maybe outside the region."

Declaration on terrorism

Mainly-Muslim Malaysia announced it had agreed to host the centre after US President George W.Bush raised the issue with Asean leaders on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Mexico last month.

Asean leaders were to issue a declaration on terrorism to condemn recent bloody bombings on Indonesia's Bali island and the southern Philippines island of Zamboanga, officials said.

The 10-member grouping was to underline its seriousness in fighting terrorism, including plans for the regional centre in Malaysia and various security programs over the next year to curb the scourge.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra earlier Sunday announced that Thailand would accede to a regional anti-terrorism pact joining Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia to focus on sharing intelligence, resources and personnel. AFP