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Terrorism to Dominate Southeast Asian Summit
By Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA, Nov 2 (IslamOnline) - An enlarged Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit to be held in Brunei will be dominated by the issue of terrorism and its impact on politics and economy, news sources said on Friday.
Leaders in the ASEAN region will meet in Brunei's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, next week. Thousands of officials already gathered at the venue.
Leaders from China, Japan and South Korea will travel to the tiny, oil-rich sultanate for separate talks with their Southeast Asian counterparts during the summit, which will be held Monday and Tuesday.
Terrorist threats in some countries and the economic fallout on export-dependent economies, caused by a global slowdown that deepened in the wake of the deadly September 11 attacks on the United States, will top the agenda.
"Everybody is affected by the impact of the terrorist attacks,'' said Rodolfo Severino, the association's secretary-general. "All the ASEAN nations realize more than ever before that terrorism is something we have to cooperate against.''
In a statement this week, the Brunei organizers hinted that the leaders may broaden ASEAN's scope, saying they were expected to "consider moving beyond free trade commitments with far-reaching cooperation in many areas.''
While ASEAN has in the past touched on issues such as transnational crime, the environment and health, it is primarily an economic forum and maintains a steadfast policy of non-interference in member states' internal affairs.
Earlier this month, Brunei's Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, chairman of the ASEAN Regional Forum, condemned the attacks in the United States on behalf of the group.
ASEAN also vowed that member governments would take "all necessary and available means'' to capture and punish those responsible and to prevent future terrorist attacks.
Indonesia and Malaysia - predominantly Muslim countries which respectively are ASEAN's largest and one of its richest members - have denounced terrorism, but have urged a halt to the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan, saying innocent civilians have been the main victims.
Large protests against the strikes have been held outside U.S. embassies in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. More than 220 million Muslims live in Southeast Asia, mostly in Indonesia and Malaysia, but also in Brunei and the southern Philippines.
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, and Malaysia wield far more influence in ASEAN than in the Pacific Rim forum.
The Philippines, which has accepted U.S. military help to quell the Abu Sayyaf, a hostage-taking group with alleged links to Osama bin Laden's organization, is perhaps the U.S.'s strongest ally in the region.
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to raise her plan for an agreement with Indonesia and Malaysia to fight terror through strengthened intelligence and communications exchanges.
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