Terror strikes up threat to Chogm summit

CANBERRA - Australia says the Commonwealth summit due to be held in Brisbane in two weeks' time could be postponed if key leaders cannot attend.

None of the 50 world leaders expected to attend the October 6-9 meeting had withdrawn yesterday, despite the prospect of United States military retaliation for deadly aerial attacks in New York and Washington, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.

But he told Channel Nine television: "I think there'd be a point where the [meeting] could be postponed if a large number of Prime Ministers decided they couldn't come because of the war on terrorism."

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Brisbane will be the biggest gathering of world leaders since the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have cancelled their annual meeting in Washington and the United Nations General Assembly has indefinitely postponed its annual session of world leaders in New York.

Despite the security implications, Australia is committed to the biennial forum of Commonwealth leaders, who represent about 1.7 billion people.

Only 50 leaders were due to attend, as Fiji and Pakistan are suspended from the Commonwealth and the leaders of Kenya and Malaysia had already indicated they would send representatives.

The Queen is scheduled to attend Chogm as head of the grouping.

Britain's Tony Blair, Canada's Jean Chretien and India's Atal Behari Vajpayee are among the leaders expected in Brisbane.

Downer said the forum would be a good opportunity to get a large number of countries together to focus on the issue.

"I don't think there's any doubt that terrorism will be a significant agenda item at Chogm and, by the way, at the Apec leaders' meeting in Shanghai later [in the] month," he said.

Chogm organisers had put in place security measures planned before the US attacks, focusing mainly on the threat of a repeat of the anti-globalisation protests that have hit other world forums from Seattle to Salzburg in the past two years.

But since the attacks on the US, Australian police and Commonwealth officials have been reassessing their security plans for the Brisbane meeting.

Activists linked to violent protests in Genoa and Seattle hope to shut down Chogm.

Unbowed by the prospect of heightened security, activists say growing concern over possible anti-terrorism strikes by the US and its allies has become a potent rallying call.

"We're going to widen the movement to be much more than Chogm - a new movement that's fighting for peace, freedom, land and against all forms of terrorism and violence," Brian Laver, spokesman for the anarchist Chogm Free Zone, said.

About 1600 police and troops, backed by Army helicopters, will protect leaders.

- REUTERS

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