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Philippines Safe for Asian Summits: police
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CEBU, Philippines, Jan 10, 2007 (AFP) - The
Philippine resort of Cebu is safe for this week's Asian summits, the
nation's police chief said Wednesday as ministers began arriving
amid continuing terrorism warnings. "At this time I would say that
there are no more terrorist threats. Cebu is peaceful,"
Director-General Oscar Calderon told reporters after inspecting
representatives of his 6,000-member summit security task force. "Cebu
is safe for the ASEAN summit," he said, ahead of the arrival of the
leaders and ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast
Asian Nations and dialogue partners Australia, China, India, South
Korea, and New Zealand. The Philippines called off the meetings at
the last minute in December, citing a coming typhoon even though
weather officials said the storm should not be a disruption. Several
other nations had issued terrorism warnings instead. Australia,
Britain and Canada still have travel warnings for Cebu, citing
possible terrorist attacks. After initial ministerial meetings, the
summits proper will be held from Saturday to Monday. Calderon said
that "at this time," the Philippines had not arrested or deported
anyone to ensure the security of the summits. Aside from the police
task force, Calderon said military units are deployed on the
outskirts of Cebu, the Philippines' second city. The Philippine
armed forces chief of staff, General Hermogenes Esperon, also
visited the summit site on Wednesday and he is "happy with the
preparations made," said military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel
Bartolome Bacarro. The spokesman said military operations were also
being undertaken outside of Cebu that were designed to keep "threat
groups on the run to prevent them from staging any terror activity
here in Cebu." Meanwhile, the police chief renewed a government
warning that street protesters will not be allowed around the summit
sites. "We should offer the best of Cebu to our visitors and let us
not wreck these summits," Calderon said. He said there were certain
"agitators" who he said "would really like these summits not to be
successful and they would foment trouble. We are prepared for that."
Small numbers of leftist and anti-globalisation groups have
announced plans to stage demonstrations in Cebu during the summits.
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