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Asian top security forum to discuss anti-terrorism after Jakarta bombs

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-19 19:50

PHUKET, Thailand: On July 23 in the Thai resort island of Phuket, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Asian area's top security forum, will discuss and condemn terrorism act after the two bombing attacks Friday in the Indonesian capital, the Thai Foreign Minister said on Sunday.

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"We would issue a condemnation to the violence which killed innocent people. We try to make people in different faith, cultures and civilizations to live together in peace," Kasit Piromya told reporters.

The two bombings occurred Friday separately at J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, killing at least nine and injuring more than 60.

The ARF on Thursday, participated in by foreign ministers or senior officials from 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and from 17 parties including China, the US, EU, India, South Korea and Japan, will discuss the violence and terrorism issue, Kasit said, without giving further details on whether the forum would propose any concrete measures against the terrorism.

Phuket is hosting the 42nd AMM, the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC) and the 16th ARF. The meeting series kicked off last Friday (July 17) and runs through Thursday (July 23).

The ARF is the principal forum for security dialogue in Asia, complementing the various bilateral alliances and dialogues.

Security of the meetings has been laid heavy emphasis on as the memory still lingers on that the chaos by protestors in mid-April led to the collapse of the last ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, scheduled for April 10-12 in another Thai resort Pattaya.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced the summit was cancelled after a flock of anti-government red-shirts on April 11 stormed into the venue, in a bid to pressure Abhisit to step down and to dissolve the House.