The Group of Eight (G8) foreign ministers wrapped up talks in the southern Japanese city of Miyazaki yesterday with a broadside at President Slobodan Milosevic's attempt to extend his rule in Yugoslavia.
The ministers promised to try to suppress armed conflict by removing the illicit arms and money that fuel violence around the world. They told North Korea to stop exporting missiles. Afghanistan's Taliban regime came under special attack.
"We are very concerned about the motivation for and the possible consequences of the revision of the FRY [Yugoslavia] constitution," said a written summary of the two-day meeting, which was attended by high security precautions.
"We call on the government in Belgrade to refrain from any action which could contribute to the further escalation of violence," it said.
The Yugoslav parliament in Belgrade last week adopted constitutional changes allowing Mr Milosevic, indicted by the UN tribunal for war crimes, to seek a new term by a direct vote.
Currently the president is elected by parliament for a non-renewable four-year term. Mr Milosevic's tenacious hold on power, despite an 11-week NATO bombing campaign, has caused mounting frustration among the Western allies. But Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US only managed to tie down the Yugoslav warning after bowing to Russia's demands that Mr Milosevic's name be removed.
They welcomed the summit between Mr Kim Jong-Il of North Korea and President Kim Dae-Jung of South Korea last month. But "in this context, we look forward to a constructive response to international concerns over security, non-proliferation, humanitarian and human rights issues," the summary said. The G8 summary called "for all states to work to close down terrorist camps under the control of the Taliban" in Afghanistan.
Terrorism must be fought regardless of the motives, it said.
"We commit our governments and our people to this struggle," it added. "All states, groups and individuals must recognise that . . . no haven shall be given to terrorists, no support granted and no criminal act tolerated."
The ministers' discussions set the framework for the summit from July 21st to 23rd of G8 leaders, including President Clinton, to be held on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.
Behind the scenes, the US said it had to confront fears from the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanov, and US allies about its national missile defence (NMD) programme. The US Deputy Secretary of State, Mr Strobe Talbott, had to fend off concerns that the unproven system threatened to undermine the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty.