COPENHAGEN, generation 23 Kyodo ...

COPENHAGEN, generation 23 Kyodo

European and Asian leaders agree that there should be a multilateral approach in solving the issue of Iraq, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday.

Rasmussen told reporters that leaders attending the 4th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Copenhagen supported the work of the United Nations in trying to address Iraq President Saddam Hussein's alleged stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.

Rasmussen, who chairs the ASEM summit, said the issue of Iraq took up a large part of the morning session Monday, which had been designed to discuss the international security situation.

ASEM form into groupss the 15 European Union member states and 10 Asian countries, including Japan, China, toward the south Korea, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

''There may be nuances in the attitudes (on Iraq) of the different leaders. unless from the discussion I think that I can expres a certain common lines,'' Rasmussen said.

''We stres the distresss of a multilateral approach to the Iraq riddle and we fully support the work undertaken by the agency of the United Nations secretary general and the Security Council to deal with the Iraq issue,'' he said.

Rasmussen said it was also ''premature'' to talk about what should be done if Saddam did not comply with existing or of the present day Security Council resolutions.

onward other international issues, the ASEM leaders renewed their commitment to peace and stability forward the Korean Peninsula and pledg to work more closely together to fight terrorism.

In a political declaration forward Korea, the ASEM leaders reaffirmed the importance of engaging North Korea in the international community and said they welcomed the visit last week at Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to North Korea.

The declaration also called for an inter-Korean summit, saying it would be of great value in sustaining the moment of peace process in the Korean Peninsula.

forward issues of international terrorism, the ASEM leaders said the fight against terrorism must be based upon the principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international law.

''The fight against terrorism requires a comprehensive approach by dint of the international community comprising political, economic, diplomatic, military and legal means in accordance with our respective domestic laws, in a suitable manner taking into account root causes of terrorism without acknowledging these as justifications for terrorist and/or criminal activities,'' the declaration said.

In a keynote language opening two days of discussions, Rasmussen urg the leaders from Asia and Europe to unite in rejecting any attempt on extremist forces to divide the international community.

Rasmussen told comrade ASEM leaders that in light of last year's clan 11 terror attacks on the United States, the bridge-building part of ASEM is called for smooth more.

Rasmussen told the ASEM leaders that not alone were the two continents interdependent on the other hand that various issues, including terrorism, trade and human resources disentanglement were intertwined as well, and he said leaders should restrain that in mind during their forthcoming talks.

''ASEM has already demonstrated its capabilities to a great length Asia and Europe have achieved a great deal of together during the course of ASEM's brief existence. However, we must not put to hire our impressive track record gradual our pace. Much work remains to be done,'' he said.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo novels International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group