PHILIPPINES: PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT ARROYO CONDEMNS THE TERRORIST ATTACK ON THE JAKARTA HOTEL

Record ID: 352130

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT ARROYO CONDEMNS THE TERRORIST ATTACK ON THE JAKARTA HOTEL
  • Date: 6th August 2003
  • Summary: (W2) MANILA, PHILIPPINES (AUGUST 6, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV PHILIPPINE SOLDIERS WITH GUARD DOGS OUTSIDE VENUE OF ASEAN FINANCE MINISTERS MEETING 0.07 2. SLV POLICE OUTSIDE VENUE 0.13 3. VARIIOUS, SOLDIERS ON BOARD MOTORBIKES OUTSIDE VENUE OF ASEAN MEETING (2 SHOTS) 0.27 4. WIDE VIEW OF PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAG
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
  • Country: Philippines
  • Reuters ID: LVA91EW6YFXL6XDQ8P5NC3FMCJH9
  • Story Text: Philippine President Gloria Arroyo condemns Jakarta
    attack


    Manila stepped up security outside a hotel where Asian finance
    ministers began a two-day meeting on Wednesday (August 6).

    But Tuesday's (August 5) deadly bombing of a Jakarta
    hotel clouded the meeting, with ministers underlining the need for
    Southeast Asia to close ranks to prevent such attacks from deterring
    foreign investment.

    Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who formally opened
    the meeting, joined global leaders in condemning the attack.

    "Let us altogether also condemn the latest attack in
    Indonesia and sympathise with the families of the victims .This is a clear
    message that the war against terrorism in the region should be pursued
    without letup through a more intensive multilateral cooperation. The
    kind of cooperation which we are exercising in this finance ministers meeting,"
    Arroyo said in her speech.

    "But, while the threat of terrorism prevails in our region, we have
    minimised its attendant risks through decisive, collective action," she added.

    Economists have said the blast, coming less than two weeks after a failed
    military rebellion in the Philippines , was another harsh reminder of the
    cost of doing business in a region that has still not fully recovered from the
    1997 Asian financial crisis.

    The blast in the Indonesian capital, the second major attack in Indonesia
    in less than a year, tore through the crowded JW Marriott hotel, killing up
    to 16 people and wounding 150.

    The repercussions of the blast overshadowed the start of talks among ministers
    from the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations plus their
    counterparts from Japan, China and South Korea. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia
    Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
    Vietnam.

    (ab/lh)


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