Bombing of Afghanistan clouds Asian summit

Bombing of Afghanistan clouds Asian summit

Agencies, Bandar Seri Begawan/Kuala Lumpur

With Islam's holy month of Ramadhan looming, next week's summit of 13 leaders from Asia in the Muslim sultanate of Brunei may give more evidence of fracturing support for the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who will be joined by China, Japan and South Korea for a two-day summit on Monday, has been toward the rear in the rush to support Washington's cause.

"Other regional organizations have by and large come on board quickly. ASEAN has been conspicuous by its tardiness," said Carl Thayer, a regional expert at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose support for the United States is "unwavering", said this week a declaration backing the war on terrorism will be signed in Brunei.

But she also said member countries would qualify their support depending on domestic conditions.

Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, on Thursday called for a cease-fire in Afghanistan.

While Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, a veteran who has established his country as a model progressive Muslim nation, has warned the bombs may worsen problems of terrorism.

Mahathir and Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri are both well aware that admonishing Washington plays well with public opinion at home.

But, there appears to be no acute pressure yet on either leader to lodge firmer condemnation of the U.S. strategy.

Demonstrations in Jakarta have tailed off, and there has only been one protest of any size in Kuala Lumpur.

Brunei is the third Muslim country in ASEAN. But this northwest corner of the island of Borneo, with just 300,000 people, cushioned by oil wealth, is no hotbed of activism.

Senior officials began gathering Friday in Brunei for talks paving the way for the annual summit of leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Terrorist threats in some countries and economic fallout on export-dependent economies, caused by a global slowdown deepening in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, will top the agenda.

"Everybody is affected by the impact of the terrorist attacks," said Rodolfo Severino, the association's secretary- general. "All the ASEAN nations realize more than ever before that terrorism is something we have to cooperate against."

ASEAN officials working over the weekend will try to find the right words for the summit's final communique, but the strength of the statement may only just satisfy the United States.

The ASEAN+3 summit comes just weeks after the leaders met at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shanghai, where Washington won broad support for its war on terror.

Since then, concern over mounting Afghan civilian casualties has multiplied, especially among the Muslim nations of the Malay archipelago who have opposed the bombing campaign from the start.

"The feeling about the American bombing is strong and getting stronger," Mahathir told BBC Radio in an interview this week.

On Friday his Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia hoped the United States would change tactics before the onset of the Muslim holy month, which begins in mid-November.

"We hope it will not prolong (the bombing) into Ramadhan because this is not a conventional war. It is a manhunt for the terrorists," Syed Hamid told reporters.

Divisions within ASEAN are another critical factor hindering more fulsome support for the Afghan conflict.

"None of these countries, except Singapore, has been enthusiastic in the first place," said Bruce Gale, political analyst at Control Risks in Singapore.

Some discussion is expected on moves, initiated by Mahathir and Arroyo, already afoot to counter homegrown militancy and cross-border links between various rebel groups.

Meanwhile, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Friday that Singapore and Thailand would be invited to join a sub-regional coalition that her government proposed to fight terrorism.

Arroyo, spending a holiday in northern mountain resort city of Baguio, said she discussed the plan in a meeting with ambassadors from the United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, which are part of the U.S.-led international anti- terrorist coalition.

Manila originally proposed that the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia form a sub-regional coalition to fight terrorism in the face of growing extremist violence in the three countries.