MANILA: Asia's annual security summit got under way here on Wednesday with a flurry of talks on everything from North Korea and Darfur to bird flu, child sex tourism and the threat of global warming.

With extra army squads deployed across Manila to secure the city, ministers and top officials from Asia, Europe, the United States and elsewhere gathered ahead of Thursday's annual meeting, the Asean Regional Forum, or ARF. The crisis in Sudan was at the top of the agenda after the UN Security Council overnight approved a new peacekeeping force to deploy to Darfur, where an estimated 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, whose country also voted for the force despite its close relations with Sudan, called for the peace troops to be backed up with efforts for a political solution to the bloodshed. “As the peacekeeping operation makes progress, the international community should take effective measures to promote the political process concerning Darfur,” Yang said.—AFP