ASEAN summit to be held as scheduled in Indonesia despite blast<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse
\nManila<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian leaders will hold their annual meeting in
\nIndonesia as scheduled in October despite the deadly terrorist
\nbombing in Jakarta, ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong said on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
\"We are going to be there to reaffirm our confidence in the
\nIndonesian authorities and the Indonesian people,\" Ong told
\nreporters on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) finance ministers meeting in Manila.<\/p>\n
The ASEAN leaders had decided last year to hold their 2003
\nmeeting in Bali on Oct. 7-8 in a move to show regional defiance
\nagainst the terrorist attack on Indonesia's holiday island last
\nOctober.<\/p>\n
More than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed
\nwhen bomb blasts ripped through Bali's popular Kuta district on
\nOct. 12, 2002.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, terrorists staged another deadly bombing -- this
\ntime at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, killing 14 people and
\nleaving 152 others injured.<\/p>\n
\"We are all committed to this ASEAN summit in Bali and we'll
\ngo. We just have to be careful. From now onwards, we have to be
\ncareful with every meeting,\" Ong said.<\/p>\n
He said the ASEAN summit was aimed at displaying the
\ngrouping's confidence in Indonesian authorities and \"therefore we
\nall would be there\".<\/p>\n
Ong said there were some groups which had questioned whether
\nthe ASEAN finance ministers meeting should have been held in
\nManila amid rumors of another coup attempt.<\/p>\n
\"But I think the fact that all countries are represented in
\nthe meeting here shows our strong reaffirmation of support for
\n(Philippine) President Gloria Arroyo,\" he said.<\/p>\n
About 300 soldiers were involved in what the government has
\ndescribed as an attempted coup against Arroyo with a siege at the
\nheart of the Makati financial center in Manila on July 27. They
\ndecided to return to their barracks after intense negotiations.<\/p>\n
The ASEAN finance ministers are meeting a block away from a
\nhigh-end serviced apartment complex in the Makati financial
\ndistrict that was occupied for more than 20 hours by the rogue
\nsoldiers.<\/p>\n
The ministers on Wednesday expressed concern over the economic
\nfallout from the deadly Jakarta hotel blast, and called for a
\nfirmer stance against terrorism.<\/p>",
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