Apec leaders unite vs terrorism

President Benigno S. Aquino III exchanges views with United States of America President Barack Obama during the expanded bilateral meeting at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel on Wednesday (November 18, 2015), at the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. (Photo by Joseph Vidal / Malacañang Photo Bureau)

The statement was a departure from convention for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), which normally focuses on trade and business issues.

Apec leaders on Thursday condemned the deadly terrorist attacks on France, Lebanon and on a Russian airliner and called for governments to urgently increase cooperation in the fight against terrorism even as the suspected mastermind of the attacks on the French capital was confirmed to be among those killed in a police raid on Wednesday.

The leaders of the 21 member-economies of the Apec forum wrapped up annual talks in Manila haunted by the Paris attacks last Friday that left 129 people dead and 352 wounded.

Abaaoud killed

French authorities reported Thursday that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 28-year-old Belgian militant who had boasted of mounting attacks in Europe for the Islamic State (IS) group and was suspected of masterminding the Paris attacks, was killed in the police raid in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on Wednesday.

Police originally thought he was in Syria, but their investigations led them to a house in Saint-Denis.

Denis and heavily armed officers stormed the building before dawn, triggering a massive firefight and multiple explosions in which a woman blew herself up with an explosive vest and Abaaoud was killed.

“Abdelhamid Abaaoud has just been formally identified … as having been killed during the raid,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

The prosecutor said Abaaoud, whose body was so riddled with bullets, was identified using handprints.

A day before the Paris attacks, a pair of suicide bombings killed more than 40 people in Beirut.

On Oct. 31, a Russian airliner exploded in midair and crashed on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, killing all 224 people on board.

IS said it brought down the Russian plane and claimed responsibility for the attacks in Beirut and Paris.

“Under the shadow cast by the terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut and against the Russian aircraft over the Sinai, and elsewhere, we strongly condemn all acts, methods and practices of terrorism,” the Asia-Pacific leaders said in a summit declaration.

The bloc groups the United States and China with middle powers such as Australia and developing nations in Asia and South America. It accounts for about 60 percent of the global economy.

Urgent

In their declaration, the leaders stressed the “urgent need for increased international cooperation and solidarity in the fight against terrorism.”

“We will not allow terrorism to threaten the fundamental values that underpin our free and open economies,” they said.

The IS attacks haunted the two days of trade and business discussions hosted by the Philippines under tight security, with the leaders finding themselves expressing condolences to the nations hit by the violence.

‘Crimes against world’

On Wednesday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called on the Apec leaders and the international community to help in the fight against terrorism, saying the terror attacks on France and Russia were “crimes against the world.”

In their declaration, the leaders said “economic growth, prosperity and opportunity are among the most powerful tools to address the root causes of terrorism and radicalization.”

They said they welcomed efforts and activities of fellow Apec members to undertake measures to counter terrorism. These included “capacity-building initiatives to combat terrorist financing, and to prevent foreign terrorist fighter travel through advance passenger risk analysis and other measures.”

South China Sea row

“We further encourage economies to implement fully the Apec Consolidated Counter-Terrorism and Secure Trade Strategy and to continue taking collective and individual actions and sharing best practices to secure infrastructure, travel, supply chains and financial systems from terrorist activities,” they said.

The leaders’ declaration made no mention of maritime disputes between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors over Beijing’s claim to most of the South China Sea, though tensions over the issue surfaced on the sidelines of the summit.

US President Barack Obama, who discussed the dispute with this year’s host, President Aquino, during a meeting on Wednesday, plans to raise the issue, together with other regional leaders, this weekend in the East Asia summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Obama’s main Asia policy adviser, Daniel Kritenbrink, said Thursday.

China and its rivals for territory in the South China Sea—Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan—as well as the United States will attend the summit, which is part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gatherings. With reports from the wires