JAKARTA, (Indonesia): Asian and African leaders agreed to develop concrete ways to cooperate in fighting extremism and the financing of terrorism, they said at the conclusion of a summit in Indonesia’s capital Thursday.
The leaders said in a joint statement their cooperative efforts would involve countering the appeal of terrorism, countering violent extremism and countering the use of Internet for terrorist purposes. They also would try to fight together against the funding of terrorism, including through payment of ransoms.
“We all condemn acts of extremism and terrorism in the name of religions, and promote dialogues among cultures and religious,” Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said in his closing remarks.
At least 110 Asian-African Conference member countries attended the summit, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea’s No. 2 leader Kim Yong Nam, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
The summit attendees also repeated a call for reforming the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, to better represent Asia and Africa. They said a reformed body would correspond better to the collective interests of developing countries. -AP