At the International Democratic Union meeting, chaired by Howard, he praised recent successes in bringing democracy to greater numbers of people.
"It can safely be said that democracy has had a remarkably full decade," he told fellow conservative party leaders from around the world.
He said "the most remarkable democratic transition of the world" has come in Indonesia, which has become the third largest democracy after India and the US.
"There is a lot to be optimistic about when it comes to democracy," Howard said, the leader of Australia's right-of-center Liberal Party.
At the Rumsfeld news conference, Howard said he appreciated a US appeals court ruling that opened the way for the Bush administration to start trying terror suspects held at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before military commissions. He said he was confident that will bring justice quicker for David Hicks, the only Australian held at Guantanamo, who is accused of having fought alongside the Taliban against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Rumsfeld said two trials would resume soon before military tribunals after the favorable federal appeals court ruling last week. He did not name Hicks as a defendant, but other US officials did.
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