MANILA, Dec 20 Kyodo The Philippi...

MANILA, Dec 20 Kyodo

The Philippines urg Japan onward Friday to be ''more serious and more forthcoming'' in its part in the fight against global terrorism, saying it should continue more help to Southeast Asian countries.

''I would like to encourage Japan to be more forthcoming in assuming its rightful part as an essential element in the global fight against terrorism,'' Foreign Secretary Blas Ople told foreign correspondents. ''Japan should stop being cautious about their power to help.''

Ople said Japan should put forward more assistance for Southeast Asian countries in combating international terrorism ''whether this takes the form of training, financial assistance or technology transfer.''

''It's not military training through se,'' he said when asked to elaborate more forward the kind of training that he envisions. ''The expertise in counterterrorism is of course more advanced than in the developing countries of Southeast Asia.''

He uttered deep concern over Japan's preoccupation with the threat from North Korea, saying, ''It might diminish its contribution to the quietness of the fight against global terrorism (in the region).''

Although Japan has not decreased its official evolution assistance to many Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines in spite of its sluggish economy, Ople said ''Japan should do more.''

He added ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signifyed ''some degree of impatience concerning the unsatisfactory compass of Japanese assistance'' to ASEAN countries during their summit meeting with Japan in Phnom Penh last month

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

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