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Australia ups sky cops deployment
By Grant Holloway
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australia and Singapore have agreed to beef up air safety by allowing undercover armed guards on flights between the two countries. The move comes ahead of a joint Australia-Indonesia conference on countering terrorist financing and money-laundering being held Tuesday and Wednesday on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali. Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison said Tuesday an in-principle agreement had been reached with Singapore to allow the guards and negotiations were being pursued for similar deals with Indonesia and the United States. Air marshals have been a feature of domestic Australian flights for nearly a year and were introduced in response to the September 11 terror attacks in the United States. By early next year there will be more than 100 such security officers protecting Australian flights. Ellison said it was now time to expand the program internationally. "It's very important, this agreement that we have reached with Singapore, because it's such a significant air route between Australia and Singapore, one of the busiest that we have," Senator Ellison told the Nine television network Tuesday. Singapore Airlines and Australia's main carrier Qantas operate more than 12,000 flights a year between the two countries. Ellison said he would pursue a proposal for armed guards on flights between Australia and Indonesia at the Bali terror conference, which will be attended by senior ministers from 30 nations. Bali was chosen as the venue for the conference as a show of faith in the island following the October 12 nightclub bombings which killed nearly 190 people, including 88 Australians. The thrust of the conference will address the issue of terrorist financing. Lifeblood"Attacking terrorist financing cuts off the lifeblood of terrorism," Ellison said. "We have to develop the various strengths in the region and bring them together in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism," he said. Ellison acknowledged not all Southeast Asian countries had Australia's resources to deal with the issue, but he said the key was for nations to recognize there was a problem. For example, Indonesia does not meet international standards for preventing money laundering and remains on an international black-list compiled by the G7 Financial Action Task Force. And a report released last week by the European-based International Crisis group said Indonesia needed to more seriously address the issue of corruption in its police, army and immigration services.
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