U.S., Malaysia play down differences

By Amit Baruah

SHANGHAI, OCT. 18. The U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, said today that some of his Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) counterparts had expressed the hope that the military campaign in Afghanistan be ended quickly on a note of success.

Both Gen. Powell and the Malaysian Trade Minister, Ms. Rafidah Aziz, played down previous differences on the military campaign, saying that APEC Ministers did not discuss Afghanistan at a breakfast meeting today.

But, while APEC Ministers said that a consensus on condemning terrorism had been reached, the Malaysian Minister did stress that the world community had to be mindful about the root causes of the terrorist strikes in the U.S. on September 11. ``We are concerned about the loss of civilian lives,'' she said in the presence of Gen. Powell at a press conference. For his part, Gen. Powell said at a joint APEC ministerial press conference that the upcoming APEC Leaders' Meeting would discuss the issue of terrorism. He stressed that there was a new threat against APEC economies and they needed to respond ``all together'' to this new threat.

Gen. Powell said those who participated in terrorism were ``criminals and murderers'' and there was uniform understanding of this basic concept. The military campaign in Afghanistan was just one part of a larger anti-terrorism effort which included financial controls, intelligence work, and political, diplomatic and legal activities.

``The military campaign is necessary to root out terrorists in Afghanistan and also to separate them from the regime and punish the Taliban for harbouring them,'' Gen. Powell said.

Earlier, the Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, said a ``consensus'' on anti-terrorism had been reached by APEC Ministers. The points of consensus, he said, were that all forms of terrorist activities posed a threat to international peace and security and should be condemned and fought against. The international community, the Minister said, should take a common stand on the issue.

All anti-terrorist international covenants and U.N. resolutions should be implemented and the funding of terrorists be prevented while dealing with them according to law. The battle against terrorism was a ``just-versus-evil'' struggle rather than a conflict between different ethnic groups, religions or cultures. APEC Foreign Ministers, he said, believed that dialogue, accommodation and cooperation among ``different civilisations'' needed to be promoted.

A Japanese Government official said there was a ``broad meeting of minds'' among Ministers on anti-terrorism, who also endorsed the view that a declaration on the problem be issued by APEC leaders. According to him, the language of the declaration was ``still being worked out''.

In one of the first signs that the U.S. would consider a role for the United Nations in Afghanistan, Gen. Powell, who arrived here last night, told reporters on board his plane that U.N. peace- keepers may have a role to play in the transition to a new Government which will replace the Taliban.

``I think there probably will be a role for the peace- keepers of some kind and that's part of our discussions,'' he said adding that he was talking to the U.N. about a post-Taliban Afghanistan, with the former King Zahir Shah emerging as a political rallying point.

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Section  : International
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