Rice to push security, arms proliferation fight

HANOI, Nov 16 (Reuters) The United States will today urge Asia Pacific nations to keep their financial systems from being exploited by weapons proliferators.

In remarks to be delivered at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Vietnam, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will also call for joint work to strengthen security at a gathering whose main focus is typically trade.

''More and more, one of the most important purposes of our cooperation is security,'' Rice said in a text of her prepared remarks released by the US State Department.

''Confronting the threats posed by terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, natural disaster, and pandemic disease is inextricably tied to the prosperity of the region.

''One can only imagine the consequences to our trade and growth if the security of this region was fundamentally compromised,'' she added.

''We also hope that APEC members will take all necessary actions to prevent the abuse of their financial systems by weapons proliferators.'' Rice also said she hoped for continued joint work on bioterrorism, aviation, and port security, and countering ''terrorist financing.'' SUBSTANTIALLY ISOLATED One of the most conspicuous weapons proliferators in the region is North Korea, which has long sold its missile technology abroad to raise hard currency for an economy that is substantially isolated from the world.

The United States last year sought to squeeze Pyongyang's access to the world financial system to punish it for alleged illicit activities, including printing fake US bank notes, worth about 550 million dollars annually.

The US Treasury Department's designation of Banco Delta Asia, a Macau bank, as a ''primary money laundering concern'' last year sent a chill through the international banking community, which did not want to risk being tarred as a facilitator of illicit pursuits.

About 24 million dollars in accounts at Banco Delta Asia was frozen after the move by the US Treasury, which has described the bank as a ''willing pawn'' in Pyongyang's counterfeiting, cigarette and drug-smuggling and money-laundering schemes.

North Korea blamed the US action for its refusal for nearly a year to return to six-party talks designed to end its nuclear ambitions.

Three weeks after it conducted its first nuclear test on October 9, North Korea announced that it would return to the talks, which include the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, but no date has yet been fixed.

REUTERS DKA BST1015