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SPECIAL REPORTS
- Monday
22 November 2004
APEC
SUMMIT:
'Axis of Evil' Is Uninvited
Guest
Gustavo
González
SANTIAGO, (IPS) - North Korea,
Iran and Iraq, the countries
that U.S. President George W.
Bush labelled the "axis of evil"
in early 2002, are the main
unofficial issues being
discussed at the 12th
Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit, which
opened Saturday in the Chilean
capital.
Bush arrived in Santiago late
Friday amidst a massive security
presence, and met separately
with Chinese President Hu Jintao
and Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi to discuss the
question of North Korea's
nuclear programme.
Sources close to the U.S. leader
said he also spoke with Russian
President Vladimir Putin about
North Korea's withdrawal from
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty.
The leaders of China, Japan,
Russia and the United States are
the most prominent figures
attending the gathering, which
ends Sunday.
APEC, created in 1989, also
comprises Australia, Brunei,
Canada, Chile, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru,
the Philippines, Singapore,
South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand,
and Viet Nam.
The 21 member economies
represent 55 percent of world
trade, 57 percent of global GDP,
and 40 percent of the world's
population.
The Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, the Pacific
Economic Cooperation Council,
and the Pacific Islands Forum
are official observers in APEC.
Aside from the trade issues on
the agenda, the summit is
serving as a framework for
several of the world's most
powerful leaders to catch up on
key political questions.
The United States, China and
Russia are three of the five
permanent members on the United
Nations Security Council, and
the latter two both opposed the
March 2003 U.S.-British invasion
of Iraq.
Putin announced Friday that he
would tell Bush that he
supported "holding a wide
international conference, with
participation of all involved
parties, especially Iraq," to
help Iraqis decide the future of
their country.
In a private meeting with
Chilean parliamentary leaders,
the Russian president said a
world order run by a single
superpower -- an obvious
allusion to the United States --
was simply inconceivable.
That leads to the cemetery,
Putin reportedly told the
legislators, although the
president of the Chilean Senate,
Hernán Larraín, said the Russian
leader had referred to the
crisis in Iraq "in an elegant
and diplomatic manner."
The question of North Korea's
nuclear ambitions was brought up
by Chilean President Ricardo
Lagos in a meeting with his
South Korean counterpart Roh
Moo-hyun, who will host next
year's APEC summit.
U.S. diplomatic sources told IPS
Saturday that the meetings on
the issue between leaders at the
summit were aimed at generating
international pressure for North
Korean President Kim Jong Il to
agree to negotiations.
Bush expressed to the presidents
of China and Russia his concern
over Iran's nuclear programme,
despite the fact that according
to Tehran the goal is to produce
nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes, the sources added.
The U.S. government hopes the
European Union will be able to
monitor Iran's nuclear programme
and dissuade the government of
that country from pursuing any
possible plans to develop
nuclear weapons, they said.
The United States has been the
driving force at the APEC summit
behind initiatives aimed at the
coordination of measures to
fight international terrorism,
which would include strict
controls on materials that could
be used to manufacture atomic
bombs.
Chile is the first country that
Bush has visited since he was
re-elected on Nov. 2.
On Friday, between 25,000 and
40,000 demonstrators came out to
protest Bush's visit, in the
march that kicked off the first
Chilean Social Forum.
Disturbances that occurred in
the march and in other protests
in Santiago, leading to the
arrest of 138 demonstrators,
were blamed by Deputy Minister
of the Interior Jorge Correa on
"vandals".
Protests against Bush's presence
and the APEC summit were held
late Friday in poor
neighbourhoods on the outskirts
of Santiago, where flaming
roadblocks were thrown up, and
clashes occurred with the
Carabineros militarised police.
Two police officers and a gas
station employee were shot and
injured in the unrest. |
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