APEC leaders' touchy palates<\/p>\n
THAILAND: Pity poor Vichit Mukura. He's the chef at Bangkok's
\nplush Oriental hotel who has been working for a year on the
\npreparations for Monday's slap-up gala dinner for the 21 leaders
\nand their spouses attending the annual Asia Pacific Economic
\nCooperation summit.<\/p>\n
Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai has personally
\ntasted the delicacies, which include the country's signature dish
\n-- spicy tom yam kung soup (served in carved pumpkins) -- and
\nsmoked barbecue duck red curry.<\/p>\n
Some leaders have requested favorite Thai dishes. But others
\nhave been hard to please. The wife of Singapore Prime Minister
\nGoh Chok Tong has specified no flour or cream, according to The
\nNation newspaper, while South Korea's first lady is not keen on
\npeaches.<\/p>\n
But it's the Chinese who must be making Vichit and his 42-chef
\nbrigade cry into their tureens. President Hu Jintao has said he
\ndoesn't want anything too spicy, while his wife is bringing her
\nown food. -- Reuters<\/p>\n
;AFP;HHR;
\nANPAi..r..
\nAglance-RP-U.S.-Bush
\nRP communists not to attack Bush
\nJP\/11\/ASEAN<\/p>\n
RP commies vow to let Bush live<\/p>\n
PHILIPPINES: Communist guerrillas pledged on Friday on the eve of
\nPresident George W. Bush's stopover visit to the Philippines that
\nthey will refrain from mounting an assassination attempt on the
\nU.S. leader.<\/p>\n
"If you are asking if we will mount a military action, after
\nthe military and the police warned that an NPA (New People's
\nArmy) team will assassinate George Bush, that is not among our
\nplans today, tomorrow or in the coming days," Communist Party of
\nthe Philippines (CPP) spokesman Gregorio Rosal said over DZBB
\nradio, referring to his party's armed wing.<\/p>\n
Bush is to make an eight-hour state visit to the Philippines
\non Saturday.<\/p>\n
"It is true that George Bush is our enemy, but that step is
\nnot among the protest actions that we are eying," said Rosal.<\/p>\n
The CPP and the 9,000-member NPA has been waging a 34-year
\nMaoist campaign in this former U.S. colony. The U.S. State
\nDepartment considers the CPP-NPA a "foreign terrorist
\norganization".<\/p>\n
Rosal urged Filipinos to join street protests against the
\n"imperialist United States" and its "puppet" Philippines
\nPresident Gloria Arroyo. -- AFP<\/p>\n
;REUTERS;HHR;
\nANPAi..r..
\nAglance-Politics-Cambodia
\nCambodian parties to hold talks
\nJP\/11\/ASEAN<\/p>\n
Cambodian parties to hold talks<\/p>\n
CAMBODIA: Cambodia's three feuding political parties will hold
\nface-to-face talks next week to try to resolve the stalemate
\nfollowing July's disputed general election, a government
\nspokesman said on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen,
\na former Khmer Rouge soldier who has been in power for nearly 20
\nyears, came a clear first in the July 27 poll, but failed to win
\nthe two thirds majority of seats needed to run the country alone.<\/p>\n
With the royalist FUNCINPEC and opposition Sam Rainsy parties
\nrefusing to join a Hun Sen-led coalition, the war-scarred
\nsoutheast Asian nation has been without a government ever since.<\/p>\n
A similar deadlock after the 1998 general election dragged on
\nfor months, culminating in mass riots on the streets of the
\ncapital. Several protesters were killed in clashes with riot
\npolice before the CPP and FUNCINPEC formed a coalition.<\/p>\n
CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the three parties would
\nmeet on Monday under the aegis of Cambodia's revered King Norodom
\nSihanouk to discuss the possible formation of a new government.<\/p>\n
"The CPP's position is that we want to solve all the problems
\nof the political crisis ahead of the King's birthday (Oct. 30),"
\nhe told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting. -- Reuters<\/p>",
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