Howard proposal for pre-emptive strike rejected

Philippine officials followed other Southeast Asian leaders in rejecting Australian Prime Minister John Howard's proposal for pre-emptive strike against terrorists in the region.

"This is too arrogant. It's not wise and it doesn't follow the doctrine of peacekeeping and sovereignty. Sovereignty is not decided by fight, it's decided by right," said National Security Goilo Golez.

"It would be tantamount to crossing boundaries."

He added that the Philippines prefer "coordinated, multilateral efforts" against terrorism by "exchanging intelligence information" instead of Australia's proposed unilateral action.

"This (suggestion) is too drastic," said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye. "I don't think this is good for the country," said armed forces chief of staff General Dionisio Santiago.

"We have a military capability. We have a strong intelligence community. The competence of our soldiers has been tested. The accomplishment of the armed forces can bear us out. We have been doing a very good job (in fighting terrorism). Maybe the Australians can coordinate with us, but (they should) not operate (unilaterally in the Philippines)."

Howard's statement is "no different from those coming from the United States," said Renato Reyes, a spokesman of the militant Bayan.

At the same time, Golez called Australia a "fair-weather friend" for closing its mission on November 28 without prior notice to the foreign office.

Earlier, the agriculture department banned the entry of meat from Australia because of the reported outbreak of anthrax virus on a ranch in Canberra.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer were considering a bilateral anti-terrorist memorandum of understanding, hinting it might be signed while President Gloria Arroyo is on a state visit in Japan.

A draft of the accord called for "joint operational and training activities", exchanges of intelligence information and cooperation in "preventing and investigating acts of terrorism".

It also called for ways to fight terrorism by sharing practices and procedures and exchanges of visits by anti-terror experts. The Philippine constitution forbids the basing of foreign troops and their involvement in local combat, without a treaty.

Earlier, much stronger statements of condemnation came from other Southeast Asian leaders immediately after Howard aired his views on pre-emptive strike on television.