UK army chief says troops should leave Iraq ; ASEAN chief hails accelerated economic integration timetable--Thanh Nien News

ASEAN chief hails accelerated economic integration timetable

Last Updated: Monday, October 23, 2006 21:18:46 Vietnam (GMT+07)


ASEAN chief hails accelerated economic integration timetable
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had made a giant leap toward completing the economic integration process by resetting the deadline five years ahead of the previous schedule, the grouping’s chief said.


Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said in a recent interview that ASEAN had two very important reasons for bringing forward the dateline of the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community from 2020 to 2015.

"We believe that by 2014 many of the FTA (free trade area) negotiations with other countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand will be completed," he said.

"It means that ASEAN markets have already committed (themselves) to certain sets of requirements for the FTA. Why do we have to wait until 2020 if we can finish all these FTAs by 2014 or 2015."

Ong said the second reason for ASEAN to shorten its economic integration schedule was to "encourage ASEAN countries to be more active in doing internal changes."

"[The year] 2020 is far away, people can still wait and take the time and then you don't get a lot of good results and then the negotiations for FTAs with other countries will also suffer a delay. We moved the date from 2020 to 2015 and now everybody in ASEAN knows they cannot delay anymore," said Ong, who has been leading the 10-member bloc since January 2003.

He said the rescheduling had received favorable responses from businesses in the region.

The goal is to establish ASEAN as a single market and production base so that it can become a more dynamic and stronger segment of the global supply chain.

However, concern remains over the less-developed countries in the region in terms of catching up with their wealthier neighbors.

"We have some countries that are developed, some countries not so developed. This is true that we have a gap, and the gap is quite big. The important thing today is to improve the transportation in all the countries, to improve the infrastructure," said Ong.

Apart from the need for an improvement of the infrastructures in the member countries, Ong pointed out that some economies that used to be centralized needed "a lot of officials who understand how to upgrade the system in the open market," adding that the ASEAN had been offering the appropriate training.

With the regional economic integration process now at top speed, Ong dismissed suggestions that the ASEAN was walking on the same path as the European Union (EU).

"The EU has a common currency, they also have free movement of people. We don't think Southeast Asian countries are ready to do that," he said.

"What we are seeing (in ASEAN) is more the movement of professional people, skilled people. We cannot be like the EU which (allows) free movement of people," he said. "Many of our countries are still relatively insecure, and if you have complete free movement of people, you can see thousands more coming into a small country or thousands more going where the market is good, The local population may not be ready to welcome this competition from another guy next door."



Source: Xinhua







* * * * * * *




UK army chief says troops should leave Iraq

Last Updated: Friday, October 13, 2006 21:46:33 Vietnam (GMT+07)


Britain's army chief said his troops should be withdrawn from Iraq soon as their presence was making security worse, in bluntly worded comments seized upon by opponents of the US-led invasion three years ago.


Chief of the General Staff Richard Dannatt told the Daily Mail newspaper that post-war planning for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq was "poor" and the presence of troops there was hurting British security globally.

The remarks, extraordinary from such a senior serving officer, could have political fallout on both sides of the Atlantic. The war has damaged the standing of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and is a major issue for US President George W. Bush's allies in congressional elections next month.

Although in later interviews Dannatt denied any split with Blair, he may have added to the storm by warning that over-stretching the British army in Iraq could "break it."

Britain should "get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems," he told the Mail.

"I don't say that the difficulties we are experiencing round the world are caused by our presence in Iraq, but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates them," he said.

"I think history will show that the planning for what happened after the initial successful war fighting phase was poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning."

Iraq government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said US and British troops were still needed.

"The Iraqi government and the Iraqi people don't want foreign troops to stay in Iraq indefinitely. But we believe the British and Americans are playing a positive role in Iraq and that their presence is necessary to control the security issue."

But Dannatt's remarks were seized upon by anti-war campaigners. Reg Keys, whose son died in Iraq, said: "Here you have an officer, at last, who is prepared to speak how it is, and not be a mouthpiece for the delusions of a prime minister."

In Basra, where most of Britain's 7,200 troops are based, locals told Reuters they agreed it was time for them to go.

"In the last three years, people started to look at these troops in a different way. They simply hate these troops," said school teacher Fatima Ahmed, 35.


Political storm

Hours after Dannatt's interview appeared, he made radio and television appearances to calm the political storm. He said his remarks were taken out of context but he did not deny them.

"It was never my intention to have this hoo ha, which people have thoroughly enjoyed overnight, trying to suggest there is a chasm between myself and the prime minister," he told BBC radio.

British troops were targets in some places, but were beneficial in others, he said and insisted he was not proposing an immediate withdrawal. "I'm a soldier. We don't do surrender ... We're going to see this through," he said.

But he added: "I've got an army to look after which is going to be successful in current operations. But I want an army in five years time and 10 years time. Don't let's break it on this one. Lets keep an eye on time."

Britain has launched a large new operation in Afghanistan this year, and commanders have acknowledged that they had hoped they could reduce their force in Iraq faster.

Generals have said they now hope to cut their force in Iraq in half by the middle of next year. They have turned over control of two of the four provinces they patrol to Iraqis.

"We're going to complete that process and ... the number of troops deployed there will reduce," Dannatt said.

Blair's spokesman said the prime minister still had confidence in Dannatt.

In another sign of strain in the US-British alliance, a British coroner ruled American troops had unlawfully killed television journalist Terry Lloyd in the early days of the invasion. Lloyd's family's lawyer said US troops had acted like "trigger happy cowboys" and should be tried for murder.

In Iraq on Thursday, a bomb in a police station in Hilla killed a police colonel and five others. The bodies of 14 construction workers were found in an orchard near a town 40 km (25 miles) north of Baghdad. One policeman and eight insurgents were reported killed in clashes in Mosul.




Copyright © 2004