American Summit expected to discuss fight against terrorism

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 12, 2004

American Summit expected to discuss fight against terrorism

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Leaders from 34 American nations are expected to try to map out a common vision at their summit on Jan.12-13 on how to make the region safer, balancing concerns about security in the hemisphere with alarm over an increasingly aggressive US response to terror threats.

Although terrorism may not be the central focus of the Special Summit of the Americas taking place here next week, the topic, along with migration and trade, is certain to dominate the attention of delegates given recent US anti-terrorism measures that have raised concern among Latin American leaders.

The summit's executive secretary, Irene Klinger, has said that the meeting's draft declaration would address how nations across the Western Hemisphere can prevent terrorist acts.

Governments from Mexico to Brazil have cried foul over US measures to photograph and fingerprint visiting foreigners and to cancel airline flights over what some call dubious evidence of possible attacks.

But leaders excited about US President George W. Bush's proposal to allow their citizens to work in the United States may be hesitant to openly confront his policies during the two-day summit in this northern Mexico city.

Bush and most other leaders are scheduled to arrive Monday for private meetings before the formal start of the summit.

The Organization of American States (OAS), which groups all the35 nations in the hemisphere except Cuba, held its last summit in Quebec in April 2001 and had scheduled the next for 2005 in Argentina. But last year, Canada called for an interim meeting to deal with the regional repercussions of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bush said this week that one way to alleviate terror concerns would be to allow millions of migrants to work legally in the United States for at least three years and at the same time to crack down on illegal workers.

Source: Xinhua

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