Southeast Asian attorneys-general failed to agree on a Malaysian-drafted treaty to deepen anti-terror cooperation after talks in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah today, the official Bernama news agency reported.

Malaysian attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail said several countries indicated they were prepared to sign the treaty for mutual assistance in criminal matters but others wanted time to study it further.

Among concerns expressed were those related to the application, enforceability and relevance of the treaty to domestic laws, said Abdul Gani, who chaired the talks.

"They agree that mutual legal asistance is required and necessary but the issue is how do we put it in an effective instrument," he said after wrapping up the three-day meeting.

No safe havens

Malaysia, which proposed the treaty at a meeting of law ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in June last year, says it is vital to iron out procedural differences in regional legal systems to ensure criminals have no "safe havens" in the region.

Abdul Gani said the treaty was designed to facilitate smooth investigations.

"Throughout the years, there were problems of recording statements and obtaining evidence (from another country). If we have a treaty among us, it makes things much easier," he said.

Since the treaty was not an Asean initiative, he said it did not require the consensus of all 10 members before it could be signed.

"It is a treaty to be signed by like-minded Asean countries. We are not bound by the rules of consensus in Asean. Even if there are only two or three countries which are in agreement, they can sign it straight away."

Countries will submit their views and suggestions to the secretariat within a month, and the attorneys-general will meet again for a second round of negotiations in Indonesia at a date to be fixed, he added.

No extradition

The proposed treaty allows Asean members to obtain evidence from each other, arrange for witnesses to travel and give testimony, freeze foreign assets of suspects and conduct searches and seizures, officials said.

It does not include extradition, which is covered by bilateral pacts and existing laws in some countries, they said.

The move to intensify cooperation and remove red tape and other legal obstacles hindering the region in the fight against terrorism and other transnational crimes followed last October's bombing in Indonesia's Bali island which killed 202 people.

Representatives from Australia, Britain and the United States attended the three-day meeting, along with Asean members Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Burma. Vietnam was absent. - AFP