“But we don't agree with taking away economic matters into security, military or politics,” Mahathir

BANGKOK, October 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The specters of North Korea, terrorism and stalled world trade talks dominated a summit of the 21-nation APEC forum which opened in the Thai capital Monday, October 20, with leaders discussing the threat they pose to their economies.

U.S. President George W. Bush, who is on an Asian tour to rally support for the battle against terrorism and for reconstruction in Iraq, vowed to emphasize during the two-day summit that "this is still a dangerous world".

However, some members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum said they were opposed to sidelining a pressing agenda of economic and trade issues including the urgent need to re-start multilateral trade talks.

"APEC was formed as an economic cooperation group. But we don't agree with taking away economic matters into security, military or politics, which are not really for APEC," said outspoken Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

North Korea

Discussions over the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis nevertheless had top billing in bilateral leaders' meetings Monday, with the urgency highlighted by reports North Korea had fired a short-range surface-to-ship missile.

Bush said for the first time Sunday, October 19, that he would explore ways of satisfying North Korea's demand for an assurance that the U.S. will not invade the Stalinist state, but ruled out a bilateral accord.

"Perhaps there are other ways we can look at to say exactly what I've said publicly on paper with our partners' consent," Bush said after discussions on the issue with China's President Hu Jintao.

APEC foreign and trade ministers meeting in Bangkok last week rammed home the message that a poor security situation imperiled the economies of the group's members, which account for some 60 percent of the world's economic output.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told his counterparts that "security and economics are inseparable" and that "we must also be prepared to secure our people and economies from new threats as they arise," his spokesman said.

APEC leaders are expected to agree that the failure of global trade talks in Mexico last month represents another grave threat to the region's prosperity, and according to a draft statement obtained by AFP will resolve to support their resumption.

World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Supachai Panichpakdi warned Sunday that a total collapse of current global talks to free trade could force recession and a proliferation of conflicts.

In their meeting Bush and Hu also agreed to appoint experts to a new panel designed to study how Beijing could move more rapidly towards letting markets set the yuan's value, a senior U.S. official said.

United States' business groups complain that the yuan is vastly undervalued, giving Chinese exporters an unfair advantage and costing the US jobs and exports - a headache for Bush as he begins his re-election campaign.

Diplomatic Rows

Despite the long list of pressing economic issues, the summit which in past years has been hijacked by political issues again looks likely to be distracted by diplomatic rows.

Bush has signaled he will administer a tongue-lashing to the military junta in Myanmar over house arrest restrictions against democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and its failure to introduce democratic reforms.

The White House also indicated Bush will publicly condemn Mahathir's widely denounced remarks about Jewish influence, after he told an Islamic conference that they "rule the world".

"It's not the first time he's made outrageous comments. Those were hate-filled remarks," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said.

A force of 20,000 Thai police and armed soldiers, backed by thousands more foreign agents, are guarding leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japan's premier Junichiro Koizumi.

APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.S. and Vietnam.