ASEAN Informal Ministerial Meeting Begins in Malaysia

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 19, 2003

ASEAN Informal Ministerial Meeting Begins in Malaysia

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Foreign Ministers of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began their informal meeting Wednesday at the scenic Nexus Resort Karambunai, in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

With the exception of Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople, all other Foreign Ministers of Asean are here to deliberate among other things, the Iraq crisis, national news agency Bernama reported.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the ministers would discuss issues "that we consider as current and important."

"We are not trying to find consensus at this meeting," he was quoted as saying.

On the impending war in Iraq, Syed Hamid said that the matter involved two issues. "One is the unilateral action which abandons the multilateral process. The other is about principles."

"When we are talking about principles we are talking about coalition. It's not just a question of supporting the Iraqi regimeor being anti-American. We have to look at the principles (of multilateralism) and the future of the United Nations process," hesaid.

Meanwhile, officials said the scheduled two-day informal meeting is to be cut short to only one day.

No reason was given but it is believed to be due to the ongoing developments in Iraq.

It is also not clear at the moment whether the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) on counter-terrorism and transnational crime on Fridayand Saturday will go ahead as scheduled.

Syed Hamid said Tuesday that it would be difficult to hold the ARF if war breaks out in Iraq.

ASEAN groups Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

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