Terrorism on ministers' Apec agenda

By JOHN ARMSTRONG

SHANGHAI - New Zealand will join other Pacific Rim countries at a high-powered breakfast meeting in Shanghai today as Apec foreign ministers thrash out ways of cooperating more effectively to combat terrorism.

On the agenda will be:

* Measures thwarting the funding of terrorism.

* The speeding up of an electronic network designed to enforce customs regulations and border security in the region without impeding trade.

* A review of airline and aviation security.

As Apec's host this year, China wants to strengthen efforts to combat and prohibit biological terrorism.

The foreign ministers, including Phil Goff of New Zealand, will also look at coordinating oil and natural gas supplies during emergencies to ensure that regional economies are not disrupted.

The breakfast session, to be hosted by China's Tang Jiaxuan, has been delayed a day to allow American Secretary of State Colin Powell to be present.

He has been on a diplomatic mission to Pakistan and India as the United States tries to shore up support for the air strikes against Afghanistan after the Osama bin Laden-linked terrorist acts in New York and Washington last month.

With Shanghai on heightened security alert - China has its own restive Muslim minority - today's foreign ministers' meeting precedes the annual 21-strong Apec leaders' summit in the city at the weekend, which Mr Goff expects will unequivocally condemn those acts.

"Many countries that have been victims of terrorism in the region will want to come in behind that," he said yesterday.

The summit, which includes China, Russia and the United States, is the first gathering of world leaders since the September 11 attacks.

Mr Goff spoke to the foreign ministers of Indonesia and Malaysia after his arrival in Shanghai and he expects Apec's two main Muslim countries to be comfortable with a strong resolution. While having to be sensitive to the concerns of sections of their populations, both ministers had agreed that strong measures had to be taken as the multinational coalition was mounting an attack on a group of terrorists, not a religion, he said.

"Islam is no more responsible for the actions of al Qaeda than the Catholic church is responsible for the actions of the IRA."