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Philippines postpones Asean talks Philippines postpones Asean talks
(about 1 hour later)
An annual summit of East Asian leaders set to be held in the Philippines next week has been postponed. An annual summit of East Asian leaders due to begin in the Philippines on Monday has been postponed because of an approaching storm, officials say.
Officials said a tropical storm was due to hit the Cebu region, where the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) meeting was due to be held. Organisers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) summit said tropical storm Utor was due to hit at the same time as leaders gathered.
As many as 1,000 people died after a typhoon hit the Philippines last week. They rejected suggestions the move was linked to terror attack warnings.
Several countries warned on Thursday of a possible terrorist threat in Cebu, although Philippine officials say they are not aware of a specific plot. The US, UK and Australia issued an alert earlier this week that terrorists planned to target the meeting.
The heads of the 10 nations in Asean were due to gather in Cebu, in the central Philippines, on Monday for the two-day summit. The Philippines has said it is not aware of any specific plot.
The Asean meeting was due to be followed the East Asian Summit, which has also been postponed. "The Philippine government arrived at this decision in consultation with the governments of the leaders participating in the summit," Marciano Paynor, summit organiser, said.
The Philippine head of the summit organising committee denied the recent warnings of an imminent terror threat had played any part in the decision. ""Categorically I will state that the decision was based on this weather disturbance and this weather disturbance only," he told a news conference.
"Categorically I will state that the decision was based on this weather disturbance and this weather disturbance only," Marciano Paynor told a news conference. Devastating storms
The heads of the 10 nations in Asean were due to arrive in the central Philippines resort island of Cebu at the weekend for the start of the summit on Monday.
ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS BruneiBurmaCambodiaIndonesiaLaosMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeThailandVietnamASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS BruneiBurmaCambodiaIndonesiaLaosMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeThailandVietnam
He said Typhoon Utor was expected to hit Cebu over the weekend as the Asean leaders flew in. The two-day conference was due to be immediately followed by an East Asian summit, which has also been postponed.
Ministerial meetings were expected to go ahead as planned. Officials said meetings between Asean finance and foreign ministers would go ahead as planned over the weekend, but the leaders' summit would now take place in January.
No new date has been set for the Asean leaders' meeting, although one official said it had been moved to January. Forecasters say tropical storm Utor is expected to make landfall on the island of Samar, some 200km east from Cebu, on Saturday with winds reaching 95km (59 miles) an hour.
If it follows its current path it will pass north of Cebu, intensifying into a typhoon as it heads into the South China Sea.
The Philippines has been battered by four severe storms in as many months.
Typhoon Durian has now claimed more than 1,200 lives after it hit north-central parts of the country last week.
Most of the deaths were in the area of the Mayon volcano, south-east of Manila, after heavy rains triggered massive mudslides that submerged several villages.
Durian also wrought devastation when it moved on to Vietnam, killing around 70 people with some 30 people still missing. Nearly 200,000 homes were destroyed.