Malaysia said today the deadly bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali highlighted the need for closer cooperation between Southeast Asian countries to combat terrorism.

Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations "condemn all forms of terrorism and reiterate the need for us to work and cooperate together," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters.

"We have to continue as Asean to be vigilant and to ensure that terrorism will not divert our attention towards working closely together in order to achieve peace, security, progress and development within the Asean countries.

"So in order for us to be able to address these issues, we need to talk to each other very openly," he said.

When asked if Indonesia had sought cooperation with Malaysia after Indonesian officials fingered Malaysian terror suspects for Saturday's blasts, Syed Hamid said: "If these people are within our country we have no problem to cooperate with Indonesia. The problem is, I think, these people are supposed to be in Indonesia.

"I think we (Asean countries) have cooperated very well... but there are certain areas that we may need to look at in order to ensure that terrorism cannot take place," Syed Hamid said.

"We must identify the terorrists. We must identify the extremist groups, whether it is the JI (Jemaah Islamiah), or the al-Qaeda-linked, we must deal with them squarely."

No travel advisory

He said Malaysia would not issue an advisory warning citizens against visiting Bali.

"Indonesia is facing a grave situation at present. They are recovering from their economic woes and if we issue a travel advisory then it is not helpful."

Indonesian officials have said Saturday's blasts, which killed at least 19 people plus three suicide bombers and injured more than 120, bore the hallmarks of Malaysians Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad of JI.

British-trained engineer Azahari and his compatriot Noordin are believed to have played key roles in previous deadly attacks in Indonesia.

Malaysia is currently holding more than 80 suspected Islamic militants in detention, many of whom are allegedly JI members.

Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.