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US defense secretary meets Australian counterpart in security forum
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-18 10:27
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld met his Australian counterpart,
Robert Hill, on Friday for talks on the two countries' 54-year-old defense
treaty and their joint commitment to the war on terror and campaign in Iraq.
The U.S. State Department's No. 2 official, Robert Zoellick, and Australian
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also joined the annual talks, held in the
southern city of Adelaide amid tight security.
The talks were to cover the continuing insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan
and links to terrorism in Southeast Asia.
Rumsfeld earlier said U.S. President George W. Bush wanted to improve
Australia's access to Washington's intelligence.
"He is determined we find ways to cooperate with Australia in
intelligence-sharing at a new level, and we are doing so," Rumsfeld told The
Australian newspaper in an interview published Friday.
Rumsfeld also praised the performance of Australian troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan. "They are as competent and capable and well-trained and well-run as
any forces there in Iraq," he said.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (R)
speaks to Australia's Defense Minister Robert Hill (L) and Foreign
Minister Alex Downer before the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations in
Adelaide, Australia November 18, 2005.
[Reuters] | While Rumsfeld would not be drawn on any timetable for reductions in U.S.
troop levels, he said the coalition force would be looking to decrease its
footprint in Iraq in the period ahead, the newspaper said.
Downer and Hill on Thursday promised to keep Australian soldiers in Iraq
indefinitely.
"Our simple message is that we will retain troops for as long as they can do
a useful job in helping the Iraqis," Downer told reporters in his hometown of
Adelaide.
Downer and Prime Minister John Howard were singled out in a video message
obtained Thursday by AP Television News by a masked man whom police suspected
was Malaysian fugitive Noordin Mohamad Top.
Noordin is allegedly a key leader of the al-Qaida-linked group Jemaah
Islamiyah, which is accused of orchestrating at least four deadly bombings
targeting Westerners in Indonesia.
In the video seized from Noordin's hideout in the Indonesian province of
Java, the man threatens the United States, Britain and Australia saying, "You
will be the target of our next attack."
"As long as you keep your troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and intimidate
Muslim people, you will feel our intimidation and our terror," the man said.
"Especially you," he said, identifying Howard and Downer. "You are bringing
all the Australian people to darkness and terrorizing the mujahedeen. ...
Remember that."
Howard and Downer both responded to the latest terror threat by vowing that
Australia would not be intimidated.
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