Pacific Rim leaders condemned the "mass slaughter of innocents" in the Bali bombing, decried terror attacks in Russia and the Philippines and told North Korea to quit producing nuclear weapons, as they ended a weekend summit on Sunday.
Launching a bold initiative to safeguard global trade and transport, they chased the terrorist "money trail" in a new offensive against the radicalism threatening their joint economic prospects.
But there was no sign that President George W. Bush brought fellow leaders into line behind a tough US stance on Iraq over two days of talks, informal chats and official banquets set against the symbolic backdrop of the Pacific Ocean sparkling in the sun.
Terrorism is a "profound threat" to the region's vision of free, open and prosperous economies, said Mexican President Vicente Fox, reading a final declaration, flanked by fellow leaders shaded by parasols.
Faithful to APEC tradition, leaders sported traditional dress of the host country. Mexico kitted out male leaders in pure white Guayabera shirts, while female leaders, including Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, wore scarlet and white smocks known as Huipiles.
Highlighting the Bali car bombing two weeks ago, which killed more than 180 people, leaders bemoaned "this mass slaughter of the innocent, many of whom were Indonesian and Australian citizens," in a statement on recent terror attacks.
In a separate document on terrorism and economic growth, they condemned "in the strongest terms, recent terrorist acts in the APEC region," especially the Bali attack, bombings in the Philippines and the Chechen hostage siege in Moscow.
Russia's diplomats savored their coup in ensuring the Chechnya question was referred to for the first time at an international summit document as terrorism, following the bloody commando raid which ended the standoff in a theater early Saturday.
APEC leaders also called on Stalinist North Korea to give up the nuclear weapons program it revealed to a US envoy earlier this month, warning Pyongyang's cautious diplomatic emergence was doomed if it refused.
"We call upon [North Korea] to visibly honor its commitment to give up nuclear weapons programs and reaffirm our commitment to ensure a peaceful resolution of this issue," the leaders said in a special statement.
"We note the potential for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to benefit economically from greater participation as a member of the Asia-Pacific community," they said.
Like a previous communique issued by Japan, South Korea and the US on Saturday, the statement did not contain any specific mention of sanctions Pyongyang would face should it refuse to give up the program.
But North Korea was defiant on Sunday, issuing a call to arms against the US, which it described as the "principal enemy."
APEC, now representing 50 percent of world trade, was set up as an economic alliance, but for the last two years has been consumed by the challenge of borderless terrorism now striking more and more member states following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Leaders at the gathering took action to hike security at airports, seaports and to share anti-terror intelligence.
A major measure, adopted in a victory for Washington, is the mandated introduction of reinforced cockpit doors on civilian aircraft before April next year.
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