A tightlipped US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld flew into Australia yesterday as Washington wrestled with more bad news from Iraq and ally Canberra faced new terror threats over their military alliance.
Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick arrived in Adelaide for the 20th anniversary of the Australia-US Ministerial meeting, but disappeared from any official agenda for nearly 24 hours.
Their hosts, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Defense Minister Robert Hill, spoke to reporters about the meeting as well as issues surrounding the deployment of their troops in Iraq.
But all that was known of Rumsfeld's movements before formal talks today was an unconfirmed rumor that he would lunch at a winery.
The US government is reeling under fresh revelations of horrific abuse of prisoners in Iraq after the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein, and opinion polls showing growing popular discontent with President George W. Bush's administration.
And as the two US politicians arrived in this quiet South Australia capital, intelligence agencies were studying a video believed to have been made by a top Southeast Asian terror suspect warning of attacks on Australia.
A balaclava-clad man, believed to be Malaysian Noordin Mohammad Top, threatened Western nations in a recording found last week in the hideout of his slain accomplice Azahari Husin, Indonesian reports said.
The speaker threatened to attack Australia along with the US, Britain and Italy, countries which he said were "enemies of Islam" for their military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Foreign Minister Downer told reporters Australia would not be intimidated.
"Noordin Top is the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia and no democratic country like Australia should be intimidated by a fanatic like Noordin Top," he said.
"We have to make it perfectly clear that whatever these people do, whatever threats they make, we have got the strength and courage to stand up to that.
"Australians don't expect terrorists like Noordin Top to dictate to us our foreign policies, or domestic policies."
Defense Minister Robert Hill,meanwhile, said Australia expects to be asked to stay on in southern Iraq to provide security for an extended Japanese humanitarian mission.
Australia has some 900 soldiers in Iraq as part of the US-led "coalition of the willing."
One of Australia's jobs in Iraq's Al-Muthanna province is guarding Japanese military engineers working on rebuilding damaged facilities.
"The popular view seems to be that they are likely to stay for some time yet," Hill told reporters.
"I would think they will probably ask for Australian security to help them fulfill their mission. We would need to make a decision on that by about February of next year if we were to do another rotation."
High on the agenda for the talks will be anti-terrorism cooperation, Rumsfeld indicated in an article published in the Australian newspaper.
"In the war against terrorism, no leaders have been more stalwart than the leaders of Australia," he wrote, going on to quote Prime Minister John Howard refusing to pull back from "fighting extremists."
"At this time our two countries could not be closer in our common values and attitudes towards the challenges the free world faces," Rumsfeld wrote.
Anti-war protesters have said that closeness would bring an estimated 1,000 demonstrators onto the streets of Adelaide later yesterday.
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