Reuters
Bombs exploded in two southern Philippine cities on Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, days before a summit meeting of leaders from 16 Asian nations gets under way.
Western governments have warned of bomb attacks by Islamic militants during the summit from January 13 to 15 in the central resort city of Cebu, and said the violence-prone Mindanao region in the south of the country is a likely target.
Presidents and prime ministers from China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand will join leaders from the 10-member Association of South East Nations (Asean) at Cebu.
Police said at least six people were killed and 26 wounded in a blast around dusk at a crowded public market in General Santos City, a major port about 400km south of Cebu.
A few hours later, an explosion at Kidapawan City, also in Mindanao, wounded at least two people.
There were no claims of responsibility, but the military said possible suspects include Islamic militants trying to sabotage peace talks between the government and the country's largest Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
A senior police intelligence officer, who is in Cebu as part of a security clampdown in the resort city, said Abu Sayyaf militants, linked to al-Qaeda, could have struck back after some of the group's members were killed in gun battles over the past week. "This could be a retaliation [for] the deaths of their leaders," he said.
Preparatory meetings ahead of the summit started in Cebu on Wednesday and officials said South-East Asian leaders will call on China, the United States and other major players to revive deadlocked world trade talks as they push on with regional deals.
In a statement to be issued on Saturday, Asean will urge a high-level push to resolve an impasse over farm goods that has stalled global trade talks, they said.
Trade call
"The statement will be quite clear that Asean is an open regional grouping and is very much anxious to restart the Doha round [of] negotiations this year," said Jose Antonio Buencamino, a Philippine representative to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). "The leaders will call on major players to contribute a lot to this breakthrough."
With time running short for the Doha round of trade talks -- launched in 2001 in a bid to ease poverty and boost the global economy -- Asian leaders are set to focus on cutting tariffs regionally when they meet.
The Philippines, which holds the rotating chairmanship of Asean, said the organisation is still aiming for a deal with Japan this year that would create a giant regional free-trade zone.
"I think if we really try to put our shoulders to the wheel, we can still try to achieve it by March 2007," Vicente Kabigting, the head of the Philippine Bureau of International Trade Relations, told reporters.
Asean -- which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- also hopes to ink a deal liberalising trade in services between its members and China in Cebu.
Senior officials were meeting on Wednesday in a new $13-million convention centre, which was still being worked on by builders as they plugged holes ahead of forecast downpours.
Manila postponed the original summit in December, ostensibly due to a typhoon. But the surprise move came days after Western governments said terrorists planned to disrupt the talks.
Although Philippine police have said there is no specific security threat to the meeting, about 13 000 police and soldiers are on high alert around Cebu and at the summit venue.
Regional security will likely dominate leaders' discussions due to a planned counter-terrorism declaration, post-coup jitters in Thailand and North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Leaders from China, Japan and South Korea will hold a trilateral meeting on Sunday in Cebu, their first get-together since Japan's Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister.
Western governments have warned of bomb attacks by Islamic militants during the summit from January 13 to 15 in the central resort city of Cebu, and said the violence-prone Mindanao region in the south of the country is a likely target.
Presidents and prime ministers from China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand will join leaders from the 10-member Association of South East Nations (Asean) at Cebu.
Police said at least six people were killed and 26 wounded in a blast around dusk at a crowded public market in General Santos City, a major port about 400km south of Cebu.
A few hours later, an explosion at Kidapawan City, also in Mindanao, wounded at least two people.
There were no claims of responsibility, but the military said possible suspects include Islamic militants trying to sabotage peace talks between the government and the country's largest Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
A senior police intelligence officer, who is in Cebu as part of a security clampdown in the resort city, said Abu Sayyaf militants, linked to al-Qaeda, could have struck back after some of the group's members were killed in gun battles over the past week. "This could be a retaliation [for] the deaths of their leaders," he said.
Preparatory meetings ahead of the summit started in Cebu on Wednesday and officials said South-East Asian leaders will call on China, the United States and other major players to revive deadlocked world trade talks as they push on with regional deals.
In a statement to be issued on Saturday, Asean will urge a high-level push to resolve an impasse over farm goods that has stalled global trade talks, they said.
Trade call
"The statement will be quite clear that Asean is an open regional grouping and is very much anxious to restart the Doha round [of] negotiations this year," said Jose Antonio Buencamino, a Philippine representative to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). "The leaders will call on major players to contribute a lot to this breakthrough."
With time running short for the Doha round of trade talks -- launched in 2001 in a bid to ease poverty and boost the global economy -- Asian leaders are set to focus on cutting tariffs regionally when they meet.
The Philippines, which holds the rotating chairmanship of Asean, said the organisation is still aiming for a deal with Japan this year that would create a giant regional free-trade zone.
"I think if we really try to put our shoulders to the wheel, we can still try to achieve it by March 2007," Vicente Kabigting, the head of the Philippine Bureau of International Trade Relations, told reporters.
Asean -- which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- also hopes to ink a deal liberalising trade in services between its members and China in Cebu.
Senior officials were meeting on Wednesday in a new $13-million convention centre, which was still being worked on by builders as they plugged holes ahead of forecast downpours.
Manila postponed the original summit in December, ostensibly due to a typhoon. But the surprise move came days after Western governments said terrorists planned to disrupt the talks.
Although Philippine police have said there is no specific security threat to the meeting, about 13 000 police and soldiers are on high alert around Cebu and at the summit venue.
Regional security will likely dominate leaders' discussions due to a planned counter-terrorism declaration, post-coup jitters in Thailand and North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Leaders from China, Japan and South Korea will hold a trilateral meeting on Sunday in Cebu, their first get-together since Japan's Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister.
1 comment:
Make sure you plant one for Hun Sen.
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