The world had to tackle poverty to root out terrorism, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo told the World Economic Forum's East Asia Economic Summit yesterday.
In a keynote address that followed a forum session on the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mrs Arroyo said that evil was the cause of terrorism but that evil was bred in poverty.
She said Manila was co-operating in anti-terrorism measures with Malaysia and Indonesia, including sharing intelligence, border control measures and discussing joint peace-keeping missions.
Mrs Arroyo said the source of terrorism was evil which sought 'a mass base in a climate of extreme poverty and economic exclusion'.
'Our decision to stand against terrorism is not a strategic choice, it is not an emotional choice, it is a moral choice. The war on terrorism is the war on poverty. The two cannot be separated,' she said.
One of the delegates attending the forum's terrorism session, Shamshad Ahmad, the permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, said he hoped the US operation in Afghanistan would be 'short and targeted', because of the security implications it could have on the region and the world.
Another delegate, Jusuf Wanandi, who is a senior fellow of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, said up to 500 Indonesians may have trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan, but it was unknown how many might still be 'active'.
