Security beefed up in Brunei for summit

Security beefed up in Brunei for summit

Patrick McDowell, Associated Press, Bandar Seri Begawan

Police and soldiers were on the watch for threats of anthrax and other terror attacks on Sunday as leaders from Southeast Asia and China, Japan and South Korea began arriving for an annual summit. Plans were ready for an emergency air evacuation of the leaders in the event of a crisis.

As they waited for their leaders, senior officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were finalizing a declaration against terrorism, but remained divided over whether to draft a formal regional convention to fight it.

Drafts of the declaration have condemned the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States but avoided addressing the U.S.-led airstrikes on Afghanistan. Malaysia and Indonesia, two leading ASEAN members with large Muslim populations, oppose the bombing campaign.

The global pall cast by terrorism since Sept. 11 looked certain to overshadow economic issues that normally dominate the summit between the 10 Southeast Asian nations and their key partners in Northeast Asia -- China, Japan and South Korea.

Ahmad Damit, director of summit security, said more than 2,000 police and army personnel -- much of this tiny sultanate's security forces -- would be on duty through the summit Monday and Tuesday.

No specific terror threats have been made, Ahmad said, but officials have received training about anthrax and will be on alert for suspicious letters and packages. Bomb-sniffing dogs are deployed around summit venues, and border and maritime patrols have been stepped up.

Should an attack occur, plans have been made to airlift out the 13 leaders, Ahmad told reporters. "We have a contingency plan in place. In an emergency, the leaders will be airlifted out of Brunei. We have put our army helicopters on standby," he said.

"We are ready to deal with any form of anthrax threat," he added.

Senior ASEAN officials have stumbled over a push by the Philippines for a convention that would formalize the region's fight against terrorism, said Lauro Baja, the Philippines' undersecretary of foreign affairs.

The proposal was supported by nine countries but opposed by one, Baja said, refusing to identify the nation. Other officials said the holdout was Singapore, whose officials apparently had no mandate to discuss a convention. Singaporean officials said they could not immediately comment.

"There is still no consensus on the declaration. We are still working on it," Baja told The Associated Press. "It is not even a decision to draft a convention on terrorism, but just to see if it is feasible to have a convention. ASEAN is the only regional grouping which doesn't have such a convention."

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Decisions are made by consensus.

The Philippines is struggling against an extremist Moro separatist faction, the Abu Sayyaf, which is said to have links with the terror organization led by Osama bin Laden, blamed by the United States for the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon that left thousands dead. Malaysia and Indonesia also face problems from local militants.

The U.S.-led bombing campaign in Afghanistan, aimed at toppling the Taliban regime that has sheltered bin Laden, has drawn protests in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, and in Malaysia. Appeals to halt the bombings are intensifying as the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan nears.

ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino said the summit leaders would discuss terrorism "only in a very general way" but that ASEAN recognizes the need for more regional cooperation.

Ramadhan is a "worry of some governments but this declaration is all about ASEAN cooperation on terrorism, not about fighting in Afghanistan," Severino said.

The ASEAN leaders are also scheduled to discuss progress in forming an internal free trade area, and possibly creating a free trade area with China.