Powell to attend ASEAN meetings after U.S.-EU, NATO summits
Powell to attend ASEAN meetings after U.S.-EU, NATO summits
Agence France-Presse, Washington
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will attend annual Southeast
Asian security talks early next month in Indonesia despite a
travel warning from his own department.
Powell will visit Indonesia after accompanying President
George W. Bush to summits in Ireland and Turkey, the State
Department said Wednesday.
Powell will participate in the July 1-2 ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF) and post-ministerial meetings in Jakarta for "discussions
of regional and transnational issues of mutual concern with our
friends in Southeast Asia," spokesman Richard Boucher said.
He will travel to Indonesia from Turkey and Ireland, after
accompanying Bush to the June 28-29 NATO summit in Istanbul and
the United States-European Union summit at Dromoland Castle in
Newmarket-on-Fergus in County Clare June 25-26, Boucher told
reporters.
The 23-member ASEAN Regional Forum includes the 10 Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, other Asia-Pacific
states, Russia, the European Union and the United States.
The United States State Department warned on Wednesday that
the al-Qaeda terror network's Southeast Asian chapter could stage
attacks, including on Western targets, to disrupt Indonesia's
presidential elections.
Indonesia will hold a presidential election on July 5 and a
possible presidential runoff election on Sept. 20.
"The Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and other similar terrorist groups
might use these elections as opportune occasions to conduct
attacks," according to an updated U.S. State Department travel
advisory.
"The potential remains for violence and terrorist actions
against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the country," it
said, urging Americans to defer all non-essential travel to
Indonesia.
Southeast Asian governments say the JI is the regional chapter
of Osama bin laden's al-Qaeda network.
It was blamed for bombings that killed or injured American
citizens at a major international hotel in Jakarta in August 2003
and at Denpasar, Bali in October 2002.
The latest U.S. travel advisory also said that Washington
continued to receive information that JI and other extremist
groups might be planning additional attacks against American and
other Western interests in Indonesia.
Since security has increased at official US facilities, it
said, terrorists could seek "softer" targets.
The targets cover areas where Americans and other Westerners
live, congregate, shop or visit, including hotels, restaurants,
shopping centers, housing compounds, places of worship, schools,
or public recreation events.