By PAULA OLIVER
Terrorist networks such as al Qaeda are getting closer to Oceania, and New Zealand should be working hard to ensure the region has moderate leaders, says a visiting terrorism expert.
Dr Rohan Gunaratna, who has written a book about al Qaeda, was addressing the opening of a two-day symposium in Wellington on world terrorism and its implications for the region.
He said terrorist networks were decentralising, and their reach had greatly increased in the last 10 years.
New Zealand must be vigilant and work with other countries to make sure Governments in the region were stable, he said.
Dr Gunaratna is based at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, and he is one of several international speakers at the symposium who will outline the threat posed by global terrorist networks.
The Rand Corporation in the United States is represented, and another speaker is from France.
Victoria University dean of law Matthew Palmer will speak on the need to consider civil liberties when countering terrorism.
The symposium was organised by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, police and Victoria University.
Prime Minister Helen Clark, who opened the conference, said the international insights would help the Government to review what it had done to tighten security since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
New Zealand was a remote and unlikely target, but it must be alert to the possibility of connections being formed between international terrorist networks, their activities, and people living in this country, she said.
"Our legal framework and its enforcement must be robust enough to ensure that we are not perceived as a safe haven for terrorists."
Since the US attacks the Government has boosted spending for its three spy agencies and other departments in an anti-terrorist package worth an extra $30 million over three years.
Story archives:
Links: War against terrorism
Timeline: Major events since the Sept 11 attacks
Terror networks heading this way: expert
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