Terror threat reason for postponing Asian summits

Associated Press
Posted date: December 12, 2006

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- The threat of a terrorist attack was one reason for the postponement of two high-profile Asian summits due to take place in the Philippines this week, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday.
There had been considerable speculation -- but no official confirmation -- that fear of terrorism was one of the reasons for postponing the December 11-13 annual summit of leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their meetings with the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea.
Last Friday, the Philippine government abruptly postponed the meetings, blaming Typhoon Utor (Philippine codename: Seniang), which was bearing down on the country near the venue of the summits in Cebu province.
But several reports in the media that cited unnamed Asian officials said the postponement might have been prompted by warnings from several foreign embassies in the Philippines that a terror attack was possible.
Hun Sen, in a speech given in the countryside, noted that he would have been in the Philippines on Tuesday had the meetings there not been postponed.
"But in the Philippines, there was a typhoon on one hand and threat of attack on the other," he said in a speech in Svay Rieng province, about 110 kilometers (68 miles) southeast of the capital Phnom Penh.
"The terrorists threatened to launch an attack" in the Philippines, Hun Sen added without elaborating. His speech was broadcast on the national radio.
In separate advisories last Wednesday, the United States, Britain and Australia warned terrorists might be plotting attacks in the central Philippines, the site of the meetings.
Philippine security officials said they had not discovered any specific terror threats against the summit, but could not discount them.
ASEAN is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Philippine officials have said the meetings may resume on January 11-13.