"We must continue to enhance the format of the dialogues we are holding to counter the clever and seductive propaganda of the terrorists. We must devise more effective ways of denying the terrorists access to deadly weapons.

Wirayuda did not spell out what the new tactics were, but experts say militants have found smarter ways to cross borders and that groups seek to win popular support through charity and involvement in sectarian violence.
 
The two-day conference was chaired by Indonesia and Australia, which have worked closely ever since militants bombed nightclubs in Bali in 2002.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also warned against complacency. "They continue to find support, they continue to make bombs and they continue to recruit operatives to carry out their attacks," he told the conference.

Downer said Muslim extremists like Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) seek a world that bans "all forms of entertainment and all trappings of modernity.” "We need to work together to prevent this kind of society, to reject this extremist ideology," he said.

The meeting was a follow-up to a similar 2004 conference that produced the so-called Bali Counter-Terrorism Process. That included coordination in countering terrorist financing, investigations, prosecutions and intelligence-sharing.

The cooperation has led to the prosecution of hundreds of militants in Indonesia, the killing of top JI bombmaker Azahari bin Husin and the establishment of a regional counter-terrorism training center for law enforcement officers.

Downer praised Indonesia’s record on counter-terrorism. “The way they have been handling this difficult issue is working for them. They've arrested somewhere in the vicinity of 200 JI operatives,” he pointed out.