Embattled Rumsfeld flies in to Australia (AFP) Updated: 2005-11-17 14:48
A tightlipped US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has arrived in Australia,
as Washington wrestled with more bad news from Iraq and ally Canberra faces new
terror threats over their military alliance.
Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick arrived in Adelaide
for the 20th anniversary of the Australia-United States Ministerial meeting
(AUSMIN), but disappeared from any official agenda for nearly 24 hours.
Their hosts, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Defence Minister Robert
Hill, spoke to reporters about the meeting and issues surrounding the deployment
of their troops in Iraq.
But all that was known of Rumsfeld's movements before formal talks Friday was
an unconfirmed rumour that he would lunch at a winery.
The US government is reeling under fresh revelations of horrific abuse of
prisoners in Iraq after the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein, and opinion
polls showing growing popular discontent with President George W. Bush's
administration.
And as the two US politicians arrived in this quiet South Australia capital,
intelligence agencies were studying a video believed to have been made by a top
Southeast Asian terror suspect warning of attacks on Australia.
A balaclava-clad man, believed to be Malaysian Noordin Mohammad Top,
threatened Western nations in a recording found last week in the hideout of his
slain accomplice Azahari Husin, Indonesian reports said.
The speaker threatened to attack Australia along with the United States,
Britain and Italy, countries which he said were "enemies of Islam" for their
military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Foreign Minister Downer told reporters Australia would not be intimidated.
"Noordin Top is the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia and no democratic
country like Australia should be intimidated by a fanatic like Noordin Top," he
said.
"We have to make it perfectly clear that whatever these people do, whatever
threats they make, we have got the strength and courage to stand up to that.
"Australians don't expect terrorists like Noordin Top to dictate to us our
foreign policies, or domestic policies."
Defence Minister Robert Hill,meanwhile, said Australia expects to be asked to
stay on in southern Iraq to provide security for an extended Japanese
humanitarian mission.
Australia has some 900 soldiers in Iraq as part of the US-led "coalition of
the willing".
One of Australia's jobs in Iraq's Al-Muthanna province is guarding Japanese
military engineers working on rebuilding damaged facilities.
"The popular view seems to be that they are likely to stay for some time
yet," Hill told reporters.
"I would think they will probably ask for Australian security to help them
fulfill their mission. We would need to make a decision on that by about
February of next year if we were to do another rotation."
High on the agenda for the talks will be anti-terrorism cooperation, Rumsfeld
indicated in an article published in The Australian newspaper.
"In the war against terrorism, no leaders have been more stalwart than the
leaders of Australia," he wrote, going on to quote Prime Minister John Howard
refusing to pull back from "fighting extremists".
"At this time our two countries could not be closer in our common values and
attitudes towards the challenges the free world faces," Rumsfeld wrote.
Anti-war protesters have said that closeness would bring an estimated 1,000
demonstrators onto the streets of Adelaide later Thursday.
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