Manila postpones Asian summit due to typhoon

Cebu (Philippines), Dec 8: Philippines has postponed an annual gathering of 16 Asian leaders because a tropical storm is heading towards central island venue, an official said today.

''All leaders summits have been postponed because of the typhoon,'' ASEAN assistant-secretary general of administration Domingo Lucenario told reporters.

''Foreign ministers meetings will push through as scheduled tomorrow,'' he said.

The heads of 10 Southeast Asian nations along with the leaders of China, Japan, India, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia were due to gather on Cebu and nearby Mactan Island on December 11-13 for a round of meetings.

A statement from the Philippine presidential palace was expected at 1430 IST.

The unexpected postponement came a day after governments of the United States, Britain and Australia warned that militants could be planning to bomb the gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asian leaders.

According to forecasters a tropical storm, currently over the northwest Pacific Ocean, will land in the central Philippines tomorrow but will pass north of Cebu. The storm was earlier forecast to pass through the resort island.

Storm tracking Web site, www.tropicalstormrisk.com, shows the storm developing into a typhoon over the South China Sea next week after leaving the Philippine archipelago.

Last week, Typhoon Durian swept through the central Philippines triggering landslides and floods that are feared to have killed over 1,000 people.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

REUTERS