Southeast Asia united against terrorism

Southeast Asia united against terrorism

Chris Foley, Agence France-Presse, Bandar Seri Begawan

Southeast Asian nations forged a landmark anti-terrorism
declaration on Tuesday, and fine-tuned a broader pact with the
United States pledging total cooperation on counter-terrorism
measures.

The U.S. agreement, to be signed by Secretary of State Colin
Powell on Thursday, includes a tightening of border controls and
recognizes the need for a unified approach to stop the flow of
terrorist-related material, money and people.

Terrorism is the dominant theme in a week of foreign minister-
level talks in Brunei which are also focused on tensions on the
Korean peninsula and the India-Pakistan border, multi-nation
disputes in the South China Sea, and an urgent need to regain the
region's economic competitiveness.

The no-nonsense approach to terrorism taken by Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers underscored
their concerns about global security as well as regional
separatist movements.

"We recognized the need to address threats and challenges
posed by issues such as separatism and terrorism," the ministers
said in a joint statement.

"We are also determined to enhance counter-terrorism
cooperation in line with specific circumstances in our respective
countries."

The broader document to be signed with the United States as
part of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), an Asia-Pacific security
grouping, remained incomplete Tuesday, but officials on both
sides said the differences were not significant and the thrust of
the message was agreed.

It includes "the development of more effective counter-
terrorism policies", and agrees to strengthen border and
immigration controls, enhance intelligence sharing and clamp down
on terrorist financing, according to a draft seen by AFP.

Powell told a Thai television channel en route to Brunei that
even if the wording differences have not been resolved by
Thursday "we will be able to join the consensus on this
document".

A senior official traveling with Powell said the problem was
not serious and "I expect we will have a counter-terrorism
declaration while we're there."

While pledging cooperation, the document makes no provision
for U.S. troop deployment in the region, which Malaysian Foreign
Minister Syed Hamid Albar said was a choice for individual
countries.

The ARF, which takes in ASEAN's major dialogue partners China,
Japan and South Korea, and nine other countries including the
United States and Russia, as well as the European Union, is to
issue its own anti-terrorism declaration on Wednesday.

It commits its 23 members to "freeze without delay the assets
of terrorists and their associates and close their access to the
international financial system", a draft copy seen by AFP said.

It will also require members to "make public the lists of
terrorists whose assets are subject to freezing and the amount of
assets frozen".

While the ASEAN foreign ministers were able to settle on an
anti-terrorism stance, plans to produce a groundbreaking document
aimed at resolving territorial disputes in the South China Sea
fell apart.

With ASEAN bound by a strict consensus rule, Malaysia and
Vietnam clashed over the wording of the document's title, leaving
the ministers with a watered-down statement saying a code of
conduct would promote peace and stability in the region.

Powell, in Malaysia Tuesday, held open the possibility of
talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun on the ARF
sidelines.

"I'll make a judgement on that after I get to Brunei," Powell
said, as tensions on the Korean peninsula appeared to ease with
South Korea agreeing to a North Korean offer of talks.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi is to meet Paek
Wednesday where she will raise Pyongyang's weapons development
and the alleged abduction of Japanese citizens in the first
ministerial talks between the countries in two years.