Singapore calls on urgent ASEAN meet

Singapore calls on urgent ASEAN meet

SINGAPORE: Leaders from Asia's wave-hit countries should meet within days to develop a strategy to cope with the devastation caused by Sunday's quake and tsunamis, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on late Thursday.

Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are all backing the plan, which would also bring together leaders or special representatives from the U.S., Japan, and Australia, as well as the United Nations, World Bank and World Health Organization, Lee said.

The meeting, which both Bangkok and Jakarta have offered to host, could be held as soon as next week, Lee said. It would be organized through the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and include leaders or representatives from India and Sri Lanka.

"I have discussed this idea with President Yudhoyono, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today. All three have supported the proposal," Lee said, referring to the leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

"The foreign ministers will follow up to sort out the details," Lee said at an evening briefing on the Southeast Asian city-state's reaction to the mounting death toll and frantic relief efforts around the Indian Ocean. --AP