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.