War on terrorism to dominate Powell's talks in Southeast Asia
War on terrorism to dominate Powell's talks in Southeast Asia
Matthew Lee, Agence France-Presse, Washington
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell heads into a six-nation tour of Southeast Asia next week with bolstering support for the U.S.- led war on terrorism in the region at the top of his agenda.
After weekend stops in India and Pakistan, where he will seek to cool tensions between the nuclear rivals, Powell begins the Pacific portion of the trip with talks with Thai officials on Monday in Bangkok.
From there he will head to Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and Philippines for lightning stops of less than 24 hours in each of the capitals with the exception of Bandar Seri Bagawan where he will spend two days attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF).
"In all the visits in this region, counterterrorism will be a major topic," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said this week. "We're working directly with many governments in this region against terrorism."
Powell is not expected to announce any substantially new U.S. anti-terror programs at every stop but there are signs Washington may be ready to resume suspended military assistance to Jakarta and propose expanded U.S.-Philippines operations in Manila.
U.S. officials are keen to establish closer contacts with their counterparts in Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim nation -- as they look to retard the spread of Osama bin Laden's brand of militant Islam.
In addition to a meeting with Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who spoke on Tuesday with President George W. Bush about counter-terrorism, Powell plans to see the country's economy and security ministers in Jakarta on Aug. 2.
From there, the secretary heads to Manila where earlier this week Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said that Powell would be discussing new joint counter-terrorism operations between U.S. and Filipino forces.
More than 1,000 U.S. troops are already in the southern Philippines where they have been helping local forces hunt members of the Abu Sayyaf group, a notorious organization that has been linked to bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
However, Washington's soldiers are to end their six-month operation next week.
U.S. and Philippines officials have been working to complete an agreement that would give legal cover for logistics support in military exercises before the proposed next round of counter- terror cooperation but it was not clear if Powell would be able to sign the deal when he meets with President Gloria Arroyo on Aug. 3.
While there are indications that concrete new measures could be announced in Jakarta and Manila, the last two stops on the trip, it was unclear what, if any, proposals Powell might present at the beginning of his Southeast Asia leg.
In Bangkok, U.S. officials said the secretary is likely to focus on financial aspects of the anti-terror war as well as already strong bilateral counter-narcotic work with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Similarly, in Singapore, where authorities broke up an alleged al-Qaeda backed plot to attack the U.S. embassy, Powell plans to extol existing cooperation with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
Before making his brief stop in the city-state on July 30, Powell will encounter what is likely to be the trickiest diplomacy of his mission in Kuala Lumpur where he will see Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed, who leads a moderate Islamic government.
Although the United States is generally satisfied with Malaysian cooperation in the terrorism war, Powell's talks in Kuala Lumpur will come exactly a week after a visit there by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami who used the opportunity to accuse Washington of warmongering and proposed the creation of a new Islamic union to turn the Muslim bloc into a "great power."
Powell plans to hold a variety of separate bilateral meetings with his Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, Japanese and South Korean counterparts attending the meeting, officials said.