APEC Leaders Push for Better Security
Tying the terror fight to economic growth, Pacific Rim leaders closed out an annual summit clouded by worries about the North Korean nuclear crisis — and at least one missile test by the North. The 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum said it would work to “dismantle fully and without delay transnational terrorist groups that threaten the APEC economies.” The joint statement came after President Bush pushed security to the top of the agenda at a summit where others wanted to focus on the official goal of free trade. “If there is no security it is going to be very difficult to have any trade at all,” Chilean President Ricardo Lagos told a news conference Tuesday. Full Story