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U.S., ASEAN Sign Anti-Terrorism Treaty

Secretary Powell is due to arrive in Manila this evening on the eighth and last leg of his Asian tour. He will meet with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo tomorrow morning.

Thursday, August 1, 2002
The Associated Press

Powell said that he brings the message to each country he visits that the campaign against terrorism should not be a cover to repress legitimate dissent, a charge leveled by critics in Malaysia and Indonesia. "If we're going to defeat the terrorists, then we have to attack them from the highest moral plane," Powell said. "Human rights have to be protected."

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- AP
US Secretary of State Colin Powell signed a sweeping treaty Thursday with Southeast Asian nations aimed at making the region that has become a second front in the war against terrorism more responsive to future threats.

The signing capped a week of diplomacy that overcame fears of some nations that the accord could lead to US troops being based in Southeast Asia, where American forces have already helped the Philippines battle the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.

"This is not a case of Big Brother United States imposing on ASEAN," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said. "This is something that both ASEAN and the United States want."

Under the agreement, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Washington will share information, boost police cooperation, and plug holes that extremists can exploit. It would raise U.S.

technical and logistical aid to "prevent, disrupt and combat" international terrorism.
(More: The Manila Bulletin Online News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan