Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to strengthen cooperation on security after a spate of violence in southern Thailand near their common border, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Thai Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha, Abdullah said the two countries would crack down on arms smuggling and work together in catching criminals from either side who crossed the border.

"They've indicated they're interested in certain individuals who've committed crimes on the Thai side who they believe have crossed the border to our side," said Abdullah, who is also the home minister.

"They need our cooperation to apprehend these people or to give information to the Thai authorities."

Asked whether those named were involved in the recent violence in southern Thailand, he said: "Well they were not very specific, we didn't discuss all these details."

Recent bombings

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said earlier the talks would cover the problem of dual-nationality criminals who are accused of being responsible for unrest in the border region.

Thailand's five Muslim-majority southern provinces bordering Malaysia, which is a mainly Muslim country, have been rocked in recent weeks by a series of bombing and arson attacks that targeted a Buddhist temple, a hotel and five schools.

Four suspects are reportedly in custody, including an Islamic teacher arrested Sunday in the provincial capital of Pattani when police found explosives at his home.

However, the government has insisted that the attacks were carried out by local gangsters and were not the work of international terrorists.

The southern provinces, home to most of the kingdom's Muslim community which makes up five percent of the population, have for decades been plagued by a violent Muslim separatist movement that has waned in recent years.

Inaccurate report

Fears that resurgent Islamic militancy in Southeast Asia could rekindle the movement in Thailand were revived today with an Asian Wall Street Journal report that last month's Bali bombing was planned in the south.

It said al-Qaeda's top regional operative Riduan Isamuddin, an Indonesian Islamic militant better known as Hambali, urged Arab and Southeast Asian militants attending a January meeting to attack nightclubs and restaurants.

Thaksin rejected the report, saying it was not based on fact and that it was premature to speculate on the matter until Indonesian authorities were sure who carried out the attack.

Asked whether he was concerned about the violence in southern Thailand, Abdullah said: "Whatever may affect us is our concern. We want to remain good neighbours, so as I've always said, we are certainly worried if a neighbour's house is on fire."

He said he and Wan Nor had agreed that a proposed regional anti-terrorism centre to be hosted by Malaysia in conjunction with the United States "should be open to officers from countries within Asean (the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations)."

Malaysia has stressed repeatedly that the centre would not involve the deployment of any US troops in the country but would focus on "capacity-building" for the war on terrorism. AFP