Deadly Asian conflicts rage

From Pakistan to Sri Lanka and southern Thailand, people are dying in AsiaÆs numerous conflict zones ù but progress in resolving the unrest is unlikely at AsiaÆs main security meet next week, observers say.

Ministers and top officials from Asia, Europe and the United States gather in Singapore on July 24 for the annual Asean Regional Forum (ARF), the principal official forum for security dialogue in Asia.

The gathering, the culmination of meetings by Southeast Asian foreign ministers and officials beginning this Thursday, includes nations with some of AsiaÆs most worrying and intractable security problems.

But analysts say while the ARF might discuss some of these deadly and, in some cases, escalating conflicts, little action will be forthcoming.

ôThey discuss everything under the sun... ThatÆs all it is. ItÆs a talk shop,ö said Carl Thayer of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University.

ôItÆs a virtual organisation. It comes together once a year and then disappears,ö he said.

The group of 27 member nations has no history of active involvement in the regionÆs troubles, said Damien Kingsbury of AustraliaÆs Deakin University.

ôItÆs really done very little in a substantive sense,ö said Kingsbury, from the school of international and political studies.

ôI think the real purpose of the ARF is... for the countries of the region to be able to assure each other that they donÆt pose a threat to each other.ö

The ARF ôhavenÆt really gone beyond the agenda of confidence buildingö among members, said Mely Caballero-Anthony of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to attend the forum. Fighting has worsened this year in Sri Lanka, an AFR member, after the government withdrew from a ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels, who are believed to source weapons from a number of Southeast Asian nations. Sri Lanka said it hopes to glean intelligence on Tamil Tiger activities at the Singapore talks, while also briefing member nations on political developments inside its country.

In southern Thailand, beheadings, live burnings and torture have become a common feature of violence by insurgents, a US rights group reported.

More than 3,300 people have died since unrest broke out in the region along the border with Malaysia four years ago.

The southern Philippines is also dealing with deadly insurgencies. Communist and Islamic fighters have recently become increasingly active in the area, where a small groups of US military trainers are based.

While members will clarify some of the issues about their conflicts, the group cannot be expected to resolve them, said Rodolfo Severino, a former secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

ôItÆs not built for that,ö Severino said, noting that some members have ôclashing interestsö.

China, another member, will not discuss security issues on Tibet and elsewhere in the country, despite global concern over BeijingÆs crackdown in March on unrest in the predominantly Buddhist Himalayan region. ôThis platform should not be used to discuss the internal affairs of the countries,ö foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said when asked if such matters would be talked about.

ôThe ARF is a platform for regional countries to exchange views on the regional and international security situation and promote security dialogue and cooperation,ö Liu said.

The core of ARF are the 10 Asean members, and that is part of the problem, analysts say. ôThese 10 countries are not heavyweights in the region,ö said Thayer of the Australian National University.

ôThe ARF is guided by the Asean principles and one of the Asean principles is non-interference in the affairs of another country.ö

Asked what would be on next weekÆs agenda, an Asean official said ministers ôwill exchange views on regio