Southeast Asia will vow tomorrow to cooperate with the US on counterterrorism operations, sharing information, blocking terrorist funds and clamping down on forged travel documents.
ASEAN foreign ministers hammered out a non-binding declaration yesterday and plan to sign it with US Secretary of State Colin Powell once he joins them in Brunei tomorrow.
Powell, in Bangkok on a tour of Asian capitals, was promised full cooperation in the fight against terrorism by Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai.
Powell is due to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum along with foreign ministers from 22 countries -- including Russia, China and India -- and the EU.
ASEAN and the US view "acts of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations ... as a profound threat to international peace and security, which require concerted action to protect and defend all peoples and the peace and security of the world," said a draft declaration seen yesterday.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula will put a spotlight on a potential meeting between Powell and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun at the forum.
But welding international support for the counterterrorism has been a US priority since the Sept. 11 attacks by Islamic militants on its cities.
Southeast Asian ministers, fighting a perception their region plays host to widespread activity by terrorist networks, say there is still some disagreement on the wording of the document.
But they insist the holdup is minor and see everyone signing.
"Reports I've received so far indicate that there is strong support for the document that's being examined now, but of course you have to wait until everybody agrees," Powell told Thai television.
ASEAN ministers will also sign their own statement today agreeing measures to block terrorist financing and a separate communique calling for concerted effort to battle militancy in Southeast Asia.
Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have already signed a three-way pact to pool efforts to fight militancy in the region and Cambodia plans to sign up as well.
There are concerns that Indonesia, the largest member and the world's biggest Muslim country, is not doing enough to track down militants its neighbors say are hiding in its vast archipelago.
Powell said he was happy with Thailand's part in fighting terrorism, noting it was cooperating on law enforcement and intelligence. "I don't have any weakness to identify," he told Thai television.
"We will be working closely between Thailand and the US, also ASEAN-US, on the anti-terrorism issue," Surakiart told reporters after meeting Powell.
While terrorism will dominate ASEAN's agenda, ministers are expected to thrash out a code of conduct for the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea and present it to China this week.
Apart from China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei also have claims over the potentially oil and gas-rich Spratlys.
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