The Indonesian House of Representatives is expected to pass the bill on ratification of ASEAN anti-terror pact into law next week, which will provide the foundation for mutual legal assistance and extradition in combating terrorism, a media reported here on Friday.

The ratification of the pact so called the ASEAN Convention on Counterterrorism (ACCT)will allow for a greater cooperation among member countries in dealing with the threat of terrorism "The Convention has more to offer compared to other international conventions of its kind because it facilitates rehabilitation programs for terrorists, fair legal treatment for suspected terrorists and respect territorial sovereignty and integrity," Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said during a hearing with House Commission I overseeing security and foreign affairs on Thursday.

Marty said that the leaders of 10 ASEAN countries signed the convention on May 27 last year, while six ASEAN countries ratified the convention last year.

"The bill will go into effect here as soon as we ratify it. It will greatly benefit Indonesia's attempts to counter terrorism," he was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

The ACCT was drafted in Cebu, the Philippines, in January 2007 during the 12th ASEAN Summit, following the ASEAN Declaration on the Joint Action to Counter Terrorism and the Declaration on Terrorism, adopted at the ASEAN summits in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

Considered a one-of-a-kind regional agreement on terrorism, the convention mandates ASEAN countries to cooperate in the prevention of terrorism, the enforcement of law and the rehabilitation of former terrorists.

The convention also requires that ASEAN countries share information and data from their intelligence agencies, stop the flow of funds to terrorists, cooperate in investigations and trials for terror attacks and extradite terrorist suspects.

Indonesia would be the seventh country to ratify the convention, following Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. Three other countries, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar, have not yet ratified the convention.

Lawmaker Al Muzzammil Yusuf of the Prosperous Justice Party ( PKS) said that in ratifying the convention the government must strive to protect the country's national interests. "We must guard against the interests of Western countries, which might use their diplomatic ties with some of ASEAN members to interfere with our counterterrorism efforts and neglect the convention. Nevertheless, I am confident that the convention will greatly help counterterrorism efforts in the country," he said.