Australian Prime Minister John Howard will ask the United Nations Security Council to help generate more contributions for the peacekeeping efforts in East Timor.

Howard is in New York for a week-long visit centered on his speech to the World Economic Forum on Friday, and to pay tribute to over 20 Australians killed in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

The prime minister will also address the Security Council on Wednesday, focusing on the need for a continued peacekeeping presence in East Timor. He said that he will stress Australia's long-term commitment to its closest Asian neighbor, where 1,500 Australian peacekeepers are serving as part of a UN team.

"I wouldn't want to give any signal that Australia is in a hurry to withdraw from our responsibilities in East Timor - quite the reverse," Howard said. "Australia will continue to carry a significant part of the responsibility for helping East Timor into the future. It's a small, very fragile country."

He said that while East Timorese independence celebrations will take place in May, the new nation still needs a lot of help from Australia and the international community. "And I will hope to get that point across to people in the United Nations, that we do need other help," he said. "But Australia will not be walking away from her responsibilities."

Howard said that there is a sense of unfinished business about his trip to New York after his planned trip last September was abandoned due to the September 11 attacks. The prime minister will use this trip to visit the World Trade Center site, and will present New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg with one of the many condolence books signed by Australians.

He said that he was immediately reminded of the tragedy of September 11 as soon as he arrived in New York. "Of course, there is a sense of unfinished business," he said. "It's impossible to be here without thinking about that ... It's a very tragic, awful event. But out of that tragedy there's a new spirit of cooperation amongst nations, which I found particularly evident at the APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] meeting in Shanghai."

Howard has no plans to meet US President George W Bush during his visit, although he is likely to meet Secretary of State Colin Powell during the World Economic Forum.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.