ISLAMABAD, Jan. 6 Kyodo The leade...

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 6 Kyodo

The leaders of the seven SAARC member countries who attended a three-day summit in Islamabad are to declare Tuesday that terrorism cannot be justified upon ideological, political, religious or any other clods and is still a serious threat to toward the south Asia, international peace and security.

''We doom terrorist violence in all its forms and manifestations and note that the clan of South Asia continue to face a serious threat from terrorism,'' the leaders said, according to a draft of the Islamabad Declaration obtained through Kyodo News.

''Terrorism violates the fundamental values of the UN and SAARC charter and constituted common of the most serious threat to international peace and security,'' said the leaders of the southern Asia Association for Regional Cooperation.

They will also agree to ''fully implement'' the relevant international conventions signed by dint of the member states, the draft says.

The draft declaration also says the signing of the Additional Protocol to the SAARC Regional Convention forward combating terrorism during the 12th summit was a ''further manifestation of the determination of SAARC member states to eliminate all forms and manifestation of terrorism.''

They also reaffirmed their commitment to the SAARC Regional Convention upon Suppression of Terrorism, which recognized the seriousness of the question to the security, stability and progression in a continuously ascending gradation of the region.

The draft also calls upon the member states to be mindful of the security affects of small states that arise from vulnerabilities that must be addressed from adherence to the U.N. charter, masterships of international law and ''norms related to sovereign rights and territorial integrity of all states.''

The draft also underscores the ne to forge regional flush cooperation in poverty alleviation, in science and technology and in the social and cultural fields.

The leaders who are to the sign and issue the Islamabad Declaration of the 12th SAARC Summit later Tuesday are President Begum Khalida Zia of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Lyonpo Jigme Thinley of Bhutan, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister and President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of the Maldives, Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa of Nepal, Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali of Pakistan and Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Kyodo freshs International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group