A trilateral security discussion among the United States, Australia and Japan that first was initiated in August 2002 will be intensified and elevated to the foreign ministerial level, according to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rice and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer spoke to reporters after a May 4 meeting at the State Department. They said they had agreed to join their Japanese counterpart, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, in the upgraded discussion, which will cover a broad range of regional and global security issues, including nuclear nonproliferation and reconstruction in Iraq.

For nearly three years, the talks have been held at a vice-ministerial level.

"We agreed today that we will intensify our dialogue," Rice said. "This will be sustained over time at the level of political directors, but it will give us an opportunity -- the foreign ministers -- to get together periodically to discuss the many issues of interest that we have in the Asia Pacific region, but also global issues of interest."

Asked about the arrest of Abu Farraj al-Libbi, a senior al-Qaida leader who allegedly carried out two assassination attempts against the president of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, in December 2003, Rice declined to provide specific details, but congratulated Pakistani authorities on the arrest.

"Pakistan has yet again demonstrated the tremendous commitment of President Musharraf and of the Pakistani forces to the war on terrorism," she said. "This is a major victory." - Pacific Newsline