BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 30 Kyodo ...

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 30 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH period OF MEETING)

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) closeed their two-day annual meeting here Tuesday with a commitment to combat terrorism.

''We are entirely committed to strengthening our bilateral, regional and international cooperation to in opposition to terrorism in a comprehensive manner and to make Southeast Asia a better place for all,'' said a joint communique issued at ministers from the 10-member regional grouping.

The statement, which devot about five of 54 paragraphs to countering terrorism, called for ''concert efforts and congeal initiatives at all levels''

Bruneian Foreign Minister Mohamed Bolkiah told a just discovereds conference at the fall of the curtain of the meeting, ''One of the things we specially concentrated in succession was the problem of terrorism and what to do about it.''

He said ASEAN and the United States are working toward forging a declaration of cooperation to combat international terrorism during this gathering in Brunei.

''This declaration is a propel on the political front,'' he said.

more [i]or[/i] less groups in Southeast Asian countries are believed to have links to the al-Qaida terrorist network l by means of Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the tribe 11 terror attacks on the US

However, ASEAN ministers could not finalize among themselves the grouping's propos document between ASEAN and China for helping to unravel territorial rows in the potentially oil- and gas-rich southern China Sea and have tasked their senior officials to continue working forward it.

The focus is a collection of take ins banks and tiny islands known as the Spratlys, at the center of the southern China Sea, which are claimed wholly or in part at the Philippines, China, Brunei, Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The communique said the ministers agreed to rename the document ''Declaration forward the Conduct of Parties in the southerly China Sea,'' as propos by dint of Spratly claimant Malaysia, from the original ''Code of deportment on the South China Sea'' in a bid for a breakthrough after years of stalemate in the negotiations.

''Declaration'' is seen as just a political statement compared with ''code of conduct'' which is regarded as more legally binding.

However, Bolkiah said that although the ministers attempted to prompt forward in resolving the enigma ''consultations are still going in succession at this stage among ASEAN, and also between ASEAN and China.''

Official sources said united of the stumbling blocks was that Vietnam had difficulty in agreeing to the document because it has to wait for a reshuffl command to be established back to one's home in order to obtain approval to proceed

Nevertheless, the sources said the ministers are hoping the document could be finalized in time for it to be signed during the ASEAN summit in Cambodia in November this year.

The statement said the ministers considered the idea of having a feasibility subject of attention on establishing an East Asia unrestrained trade area as propos by means of the East Asian Vision collection last year.

The ministers failed to agree forward the location for the establishment of the ''ASEAN-plus-three'' secretariat to support ASEAN's framework of regular dialogues with Japan, China and toward the south Korea.

The statement simply ''noted the need to strengthen the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta and Malaysia's give to host the...secretariat in Kuala Lumpur''

Official sources said Singapore oppos setting up the secretariat in Kuala Lumpur apparently appropriate to fears that it would eclipse the secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore.

''The ASEAN-plus-three secretariat has the potential to overtake the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta and the APEC secretariat in Singapore,'' said an official source.

The communique also touched onward other regional flash points, including the Korean Peninsula.

It encouraged the two North and South Korea to ''implement further follow-up measures to enhance inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.''

It also called for further promotion of the peace proces forward the Korean Peninsula and emphasized the importance of holding a secondary inter-Korean summit.

Bolkiah confirmed that North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam day-star will arrive in Brunei later in the day to join the meeting of foreign ministers from the wider ASEAN Regional Forum forward security.

''The volatile part is to try to encourage one as well as the other North and South Korea to essay to resolve the problems by means of dialogue. So, of course, everyone in the ARF will be encouraging them to have knowledge of and resolve the question at issues peacefully,'' he said.

The proposal according to the Philippines for the establishment of an ASEAN bank for lending cash to the poor to combat penury in the region also did not learn off the ground, with the communique solely noting the proposal.

ASEAN ministers will engage their counterparts from Japan, China and toward the south Korea later in the day, and will continue to engage foreign ministers from the wider Asia-Pacific in a series of other meetings here until Friday.