US To Deepen Ties With Asean, Says Condoleezza Rice
By Salmy Hashim
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Bernama) -- The United States hopes to deepen its ties with Asean as the region changes and confronts serious security challenges that include terrorism and nuclear proliferation, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday.
"We have a very good relationship with Asean. It's one we've tried to deepen and make more concrete over the last several years."
The president himself has put a lot of effort into Asean," she said in a roundtable interview with five Asian journalists, including from Bernama, as she prepares to make her first trip to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to attend the Asean Post Ministerial Meeting and the Asean Regional Forum.
Prior to her arrival in Kuala Lumpur, Rice will travel from Sunday to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the West Bank to talk to President Mahmoud Abbas, and to Rome where she will meet with the Lebanese Core Group of countries to address the political, security and economic problems faced by the Lebanese government.
Rice's mission will be the first diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began.
Other than addressing the North Korean issue, Rice said she would be updating Malaysia, as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Indonesia, and other member countries on the developments in West Asia.
The Umno Youth Movement Friday held a massive anti-Israel protest in front of the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur over the bombardment of Lebanon that has killed more than 500 civilians.
"We certainly want to see an end to the violence, but we have to have an end to the violence that is likely to be sustainable. And that means that you have to deal with the underlying problem of extremism. So we will look for a political framework in which to do that," Rice said.
Other than providing humanitarian assistance, she said the US had also urged Israel to have restraint in their military operations to avoid innocent civilian casualties.
The US, while condemning Hezbollah's actions and demanding the return of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers, expressed its support of the Siniora government in Lebanon because "it is a good government".
"And so I'm going out to the Middle East. I'm going to work with partners to see if we can create conditions for a doable ceasefire and that's my plan," she said.
-- BERNAMA
Link:
Lebanese newspaper: US does not want a ceasefire
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Bernama) -- The United States hopes to deepen its ties with Asean as the region changes and confronts serious security challenges that include terrorism and nuclear proliferation, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday.
"We have a very good relationship with Asean. It's one we've tried to deepen and make more concrete over the last several years."
The president himself has put a lot of effort into Asean," she said in a roundtable interview with five Asian journalists, including from Bernama, as she prepares to make her first trip to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to attend the Asean Post Ministerial Meeting and the Asean Regional Forum.
Prior to her arrival in Kuala Lumpur, Rice will travel from Sunday to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the West Bank to talk to President Mahmoud Abbas, and to Rome where she will meet with the Lebanese Core Group of countries to address the political, security and economic problems faced by the Lebanese government.
Rice's mission will be the first diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began.
Other than addressing the North Korean issue, Rice said she would be updating Malaysia, as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Indonesia, and other member countries on the developments in West Asia.
The Umno Youth Movement Friday held a massive anti-Israel protest in front of the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur over the bombardment of Lebanon that has killed more than 500 civilians.
"We certainly want to see an end to the violence, but we have to have an end to the violence that is likely to be sustainable. And that means that you have to deal with the underlying problem of extremism. So we will look for a political framework in which to do that," Rice said.
Other than providing humanitarian assistance, she said the US had also urged Israel to have restraint in their military operations to avoid innocent civilian casualties.
The US, while condemning Hezbollah's actions and demanding the return of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers, expressed its support of the Siniora government in Lebanon because "it is a good government".
"And so I'm going out to the Middle East. I'm going to work with partners to see if we can create conditions for a doable ceasefire and that's my plan," she said.
-- BERNAMA
Link:
Lebanese newspaper: US does not want a ceasefire
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 11:36 PM
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