KUALA LUMPUR, July 25, 2006 (AFP) - France will sign a landmark non-aggression treaty with Southeast Asia in December after postponing the ceremony because of the Middle East crisis, an official said Tuesday. The treaty between Paris and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be signed in the Philippines at the group's annual summit, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said. "We took note of the current situation in the Middle East and the inability of France to come to Kuala Lumpur to accede to the treaty," he told reporters. "They will do so, I think, at the Cebu meeting in the Philippines." The Philippines will take over from Malaysia as chairman of the 10-member bloc at the end of the year. France was due on Tuesday to become the first European country to ink ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) but Syed Hamid said Monday that the ceremony had been delayed. The ASEAN non-aggression pact commits signatory states to respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all member countries. Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Korea and Russia have signed the treaty. jsm/dk/mc