ASEAN looks to post-Saddam world

ASEAN looks to post-Saddam world

Jane Macartney, Reuters, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Southeast Asian nations, split over imminent war in Iraq, agreed
on Wednesday to join forces to avert reprisal attacks by
extremists in their region and to offer humanitarian assistance
to a post-war Iraq.

Foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) cut short a two-day annual retreat at a
secluded resort in Malaysia's Sabah state to fly home as
President George W. Bush's 48-hour ultimatum to Iraq expires.

"We are not trying to find a consensus," said Malaysian
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar as he arrived for the day-long
retreat on Borneo island.

The aim of the meeting was to compare positions on Iraq as
well as on North Korea and to show support for the U.N. process,
he said.

ASEAN members range from Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim
country, to tiny communist Laos and the prosperous city state of
Singapore. Their positions on the war vary greatly.

"If this war is seen as unjust, it could create a lot of anger
and encourage people to take extreme positions," Syed Hamid told
a closing news conference, adding that threats by Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein to take the war to the world should not be taken
lightly.

"I will not be surprised if the repercussion is an increase in
extreme activities," he said. The region is home to 250 million
Muslims and considerable militant activity.

A bomb attack on the Indonesian resort island of Bali last
October, which has been blamed on a pan-Asian radical Muslim
network, killed about 200 people.

The ASEAN nations, which boast some of the most dynamic
economies in Asia and whose biggest single trading partner is the
United States, said they had agreed on the immediate need to
study what Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong described as
the "very, very serious consequences" of war on their economies.

These countries, frequently divided by different priorities
and interests, will tread a delicate path over war in Iraq to
maintain ties with the United States without alienating their
large Muslim populations, senior officials said.

Further complicating their position are concerns over the
potential for more deadly attacks by Islamic militants and the
impact of high oil prices.

"What will be the implications of a war that could be
exploited by terrorists and by extremists in the region?" said
Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar, whose country's stand
has been among the closest in the region to that of the United
States.

Last October's Bali bombings prompted countries in the region
to look at their security and to work to win the hearts and minds
of their people away from militancy, officials said.

The meeting agreed on the need to help the people of Iraq.

"ASEAN should play a role in providing humanitarian assistance
to Iraq, especially after the war, in order to help prevent a
humanitarian disaster," said the Cambodian minister.

Differences between the neighbors over war were underscored by
Malaysia and Singapore.

"This is not a question of support for Iraq or of being anti-
American. We want to look at principles and the U.N. process,"
said Syed Hamid. However, he was careful after the meeting not to
criticize the United States directly, urging civil action instead
to call for peace.

His Singaporean counterpart took a different position.

"Does it serve the interests of the international community
and does it serve the interests of international stability for
there to be inaction?" Jayakumar said. "Or is it better that
prompt and immediate action be taken for the disarmament of
Iraq?"

While ASEAN had never sought a consensus on Iraq and expected
its statements to be interpreted by Washington as playing to huge
Muslim domestic audiences, some members were likely to offer
quiet support, such as helping with passage of personnel, ships
and aircraft.

Indonesia and mostly Muslim Malaysia are firmly against any
U.S. attack on Iraq. They are worried anger among their people
may lead to more militancy in a region where Osama bin Laden's
al-Qaeda network has already established ties with local groups
and is suspected of plotting the Bali bombings.

The United States can count on greater support from staunch
allies Singapore and the Philippines.

The other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam.

Also high on the agenda was North Korea, bracketed by U.S.
President George W. Bush with Iraq and Iran in an "axis of evil".

ASEAN members pledged to use their Regional Forum security
meeting in June, attended by North Korea and the United States,
as an opportunity to bring the two together while finessing
Pyongyang's demand for bilateral talks to resolve the nuclear
crisis and U.S. insistence on a multilateral meeting.

"Iraq and North Korea are paramount," said Syed Hamid.