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