Southeast Asia-U.S. ink anti-terror pact<\/p>\n
Brian Rhoads
\nReuters
\nBandar Seri Begawan
\n
\nSoutheast Asia nations signed an anti-terror pact on Thursday
\nwith U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell ahead of his visit to
\nIndonesia, seen as the weak link in the region's war on
\nterrorism.<\/p>\n
Foreign ministers from the 10 Association of South East Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) and the United States pledged to share
\nintelligence, block terrorist funds, tighten borders and make it
\ntougher to use forged travel papers.<\/p>\n
ASEAN and the United States view "acts of terrorism in all its
\nforms and manifestations...as a profound threat to international
\npeace and security, which require concerted action to protect and
\ndefend all peoples and the peace and security of the world," the
\ndeclaration said.<\/p>\n
Powell welcomed the pact, saying it would bring Southeast Asia
\nand the United States closer in their bid to counter terrorist
\nnetworks, but he said it would not open the door to increased
\nU.S. troop levels in Asia.<\/p>\n
"It's a political declaration that brings ASEAN and the United
\nStates together in a more intimate relationship," he said.<\/p>\n
"But I don't anticipate this declaration is a basis for any
\nincreased U.S. military presence in the region," he said. The
\nUnited States already has 100,000 troops in Asia-Pacific.<\/p>\n
"We are not looking for new bases or new places to send our
\nU.S. troops," he said.<\/p>\n
The signing ended a week of meetings for ASEAN, keen to dispel
\nperceptions Southeast Asia is a hotbed of terrorism.<\/p>\n
Powell, who was scheduled to head to Jakarta later on
\nThursday, said earlier this week he was carrying ideas and
\ninitiatives to help President Megawati Soekarnoputri fight
\nmilitancy at home.<\/p>\n
Some Southeast Asian nations have raised concerns Indonesia,
\nthe world's most populous Muslim nation of 210 million people, is
\nnot doing enough to root out militants in its vast archipelago.<\/p>\n
But diplomats say Indonesia is doing more than it appears, and
\nU.S. President George W. Bush has called Megawati to thank her
\nfor her efforts in the war on terror.<\/p>\n
"I expect to discuss military to military cooperation with the
\nIndonesians tomorrow," Powell said.<\/p>\n
The United States cut military ties with Jakarta, including
\ntraining officers and arms sales, in 1999 when the Indonesian
\nmilitary was implicated in violence in East Timor the territory
\nvoted for independence.<\/p>\n
The government has to contend with militant groups like Laskar
\nJihad, which is mainly active in the strife torn Maluku islands
\nwhere a bomb wounded more than 50 people on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Malaysian and Philippine security officials feel Indonesia is
\nthe weak link in a three-way pact to fight terrorism they sealed
\nearlier this year.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore have arrested several
\nmembers of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional militant group which
\ntheir intelligence agencies say has ties with Osama bin Laden's
\nal-Qaeda network, blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United
\nStates. Indonesia has not made any arrests of Jemaah Islamiyah
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said months of
\ncooperation already under way had shown a clear threat emerging
\nfrom groups possibly linked to the al-Qaeda network.<\/p>\n
"The more this has been investigated, the more concerned we've
\nbecome about organizations like Jemaah Islamiyah," he said in
\nBrunei.<\/p>\n
The highlight at ASEAN was Powell's informal chat with his
\nNorth Korean counterpart on Wednesday, the highest level contact
\nbetween Washington and Pyongyang since Bush took office in 2001.<\/p>\n
Bush put the brakes on tentative U.S. moves towards detente
\nwith North Korea and in his State of the Union address in January
\ndeclared the communist state part of an "axis of evil".<\/p>\n
North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun said on Thursday
\nthe two sides had agreed to reopen a dialog and Assistant
\nSecretary of State James Kelly would visit the North.<\/p>\n
Powell told a news conference he would confer with President
\nBush before deciding the next step.<\/p>\n
After Indonesia, Powell is scheduled to visit the Philippines
\non leave for Washington on Saturday.<\/p>",
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