TERRORISM FIGHT PLEDGED

The presidents of Russia, China and three Central Asian countries,
meeting in Dushanbe, pledged yesterday to fight terrorism, drug
trafficking and separatism - and showed a common defensiveness about
their human rights' records. In a joint statement, Russian President
Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the other leaders
expressed concerns about Islamic separatist movements in the mountain
areas of Central Asia and agreed to set up a joint anti-terrorist
centre in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. ---