U.S. thanks Southeast Asia for support in terror war

U.S. thanks Southeast Asia for support in terror war

Stephen Collinson, Agence France-Presse, Washington

The United States on Thursday expressed "deep appreciation" for
Southeast Asia's support in its war on terrorism after talks with
regional envoys overshadowed by September's terror attacks.

And in deference to sensitivities of some regional leaders who
must reconcile the sentiments of largely Muslim populations with
support for the U.S. assault on Afghanistan, Washington stressed
it was not waging a war on Islam.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage opened the one-day
U.S.-ASEAN dialog, which takes place every 18 months and groups
top US Asia policymakers with Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) envoys.

In a joint U.S.-ASEAN statement, Washington "expressed deep
appreciation for the strong stance taken by ASEAN against
terrorism and for the offer by several ASEAN countries to assist
in peacekeeping and reconstruction in Afghanistan."

The issue of combating terrorism is highly sensitive for some
ASEAN members, and tests fault lines of a group which includes
Muslim states, western-style democracies, communist governments
and military dictatorships.

While sympathetic to U.S. pain following the Sept. 11 terror
attacks on New York and the Pentagon, some ASEAN states,
especially mainly-Muslim Indonesia, must work to keep a lid on
domestic anti-U.S. sentiment.

With that in mind, the U.S. repeated in the statement that it
was waging an operation against terrorism, and not Islam -- the
consistent line of the administration of U.S. President George W.
Bush.

The United States is keen to crack down on the activities of
Muslim groups in Southeast Asia which it believes to have links
to Osama bin Laden, its top suspect in the September attacks that
left some 3,700 people dead.

In the final statement issued after talks which also focused
on trade, economics and cutting narcotics production, Washington
praised ASEAN's resolve at "preventing, suppressing and
eradicating terrorism."

The U.S. side also stressed that it wanted post-Taliban
Afghanistan to be ruled by a broad-based government
representative of all Afghans.

But despite the warm words, there were few specifics available
from a meeting which took place behind closed doors at a top
Washington hotel and was closed to the press.

The two sides, which held later sessions of the talks at the
White House and were joined by Bush's National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice, agreed to meet again in Vietnam in early 2003.

There was also a lunchtime session with key U.S. business
leaders. The United States is the prime market for most Southeast
Asian nations, which have seen their economic prospects badly hit
by the slowing U.S. economy.

Heading the U.S. delegation was Assistant Secretary of State
for East Asia and Pacific Affairs James Kelly. The ASEAN
delegation was drawn from diplomats in Washington and the region.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.