ASEAN leaders stress multilateral diplomacy in talks with Annan
ASEAN leaders stress multilateral diplomacy in talks with Annan
P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse/New York
Leaders of southeast Asian nations, some of whom strongly opposed
the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, have underlined in talks with UN
chief Kofi Annan the need to strengthen multilateral diplomacy.
"We expressed support for multilateralism with the United
Nations at the core," read a joint statement by the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after a group meeting here on
Tuesday.
ASEAN leaders gathered on the sidelines of the 60th
anniversary of the UN's founding, as 170 world leaders prepared
to kick off a landmark three-day summit expected to endorse a
watered-down blueprint to restructure the embattled body.
The leaders of the 10 mostly developing ASEAN states backed
Annan's efforts "in making the United Nations a more effective
organization that will continue to underpin the multilateral
system and to meet the challenges of the millennium," the
statement added.
Some of the Southeast Asian leaders, while backing management
reforms to bolster UN efficiency, cautioned against diluting the
powers of the secretary general, officials said.
"We support reforms but . . . do not wish to diminish the role
of the UN Secretary-General," a regional official said, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The association's predominantly Muslim nations -- Indonesia,
Malaysia and Brunei -- were among those opposed to the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq in 2003.
One UN reform proposal defining terrorism as deliberate
killing of civilians was shelved after some developing nations
insisted it be balanced by an explicit statement of the right to
resist foreign occupation, the officials said.
The trade-off was an agreement to drop language exempting
national liberation struggles, such as that of the Palestinians.
However, the right to self-determination of people under
foreign occupation was included elsewhere in the text, the
officials added.
"There was considerable debate on the language on terrorism
and most of the discussion has been on how terrorism relates to
the right of people to self determination," Indonesian government
spokesman Marty Natalegawa told AFP.
"We will regret it very much if our concerns on terrorism lead
to diluting of commitments by the international community to
support the right of peoples to self determination," he said.
Marty said that even though Indonesia had faced terrorist
attacks at home and maintained a "strong stand" against
terrorism, it was mindful of civil liberties and understood the
need to look at the root causes of terror.
ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong told AFP that ASEAN
leaders supported proposed UN management reforms, but were
especially pushing for improvements in "working methods" within
the world body.
He cited the need, for example, for closer coordination
between the United Nations and its specialized agencies,
including in disaster management and prevention as well as
control of diseases such as the Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome, the Avian flu and HIV-AIDS.
On the avian or bird flu, which has killed at least 60 people
in Southeast Asia, including 41 in Vietnam, the joint statement
expressed concern over its "unprecedented spread."
Public health experts fear the avian flu virus is mutating and
could spread to humans, potentially killing millions in a flu
pandemic.
Annan and the ASEAN leaders agreed that "urgent steps" needed
to be taken to implement local, regional and global initiatives
-- including the private sector -- to reduce the present shortage
of influenza vaccine.