July 31, 2002	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 20,1423

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 30: 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 US 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 remained incomplete on 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.

Speaking in Singapore en route to Brunei, Powell said Tuesday it was “a good pact. It will make a contribution to our campaign against terrorism”.

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

A third anti-terrorism declaration will be released on Wednesday by the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), an Asia-Pacific security grouping.

The ARF 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.

The ARF document 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”. China announced on Tuesday a regional initiative, proposing regular East Asian ministerial meetings to discuss counter-terrorism efforts as well as trans-national crime.

Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the plan would not conflict with ASEAN’s pact with Washington.

“Anti-terrorism is something everyone is concerned about. It’s not a problem any one country can resolve on its own,” he said.

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 earlier on 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,” he said, as tensions on the Korean peninsula appeared to ease with South Korea agreeing to a North Korean offer of talks.

Powell and Paek were both due in Brunei late on Tuesday.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi is to meet Paek on 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.—AFP