Muslim nations to lobby ASEAN for anti-war support

Bandar Seri Begawan, Nov 4: Asian leaders began arriving on Sunday for a summit in the Islamic sultanate of Brunei as strains start to show over support for the US bombing of Afghanistan.
The centrepiece of the Association of South East Nations summit is a declaration of support for the war on terror and a commitment to coordinate ASEAN’s own anti-terrorist efforts.

But the group is divided over the US bombing of Afghanistan and a summit declaration ducks any reference to it. "Some ASEAN members are strongly aligned to the US and prefer to keep silent, while for instance Malaysia and Indonesia have already voiced their opposition to military action," a Malaysian official was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

The official said some countries were wary of offending Washington. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, and mostly Muslim Malaysia have already said the bombing of Afghanistan should stop, and will seek backing within ASEAN. "We urge for humanitarian pause. We have to be attentive to the problem of civilian sufferings," Makarim Wibisono, head of foreign and economic relations at Indonesian foreign ministry said.

The 10-member ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN begins their two-day annual summit on Monday, alongwith the leaders of North Asian neighbours, China, Japan and Korea, as civilian casualties in Afghanistan mounted and with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan less than two weeks away.

ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino said that the organisation’s message was that it opposed terrorism in all its forms and was determined to take measures to combat it.

But the declaration would contain no reference to Afghanistan. "What is happening in Afghanistan is not part of the declaration because the declaration that the leaders may issue will be about ASEAN cooperation in combating (terrorism), especially in this area," Mr Severino said.

— Reuters