In a speech opening the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) annual foreign ministers' meeting, Megawati urged the region to unite in facing global terrorism and other challenges instead of adopting unilateral tactics.

"A surge of unilateralism in international affairs has shunted aside the established democratic ways of resolving disputes between and among nations," Megawati, the leader of the world's most populous Muslim nation, said.

"The conflict in the Middle East and the unending war in Iraq continue to destabilise the global landscape."

Listing international terrorism as a pressing issue facing Southeast Asia, Megawati said the 10-nation ASEAN group would work together to deal with the problem.

"As a security community, we will raise the level of our cooperation in political and security matters so that we can take full responsibility for addressing all threats to our regional security," she said.

On Tuesday the deputy prime minister of Laos, one of Southeast Asia's smallest nations, also spoke of the consequences of US military actions -- although in the context of the Vietnam War rather than Iraq.

"Laos has never staged any aggression against another country. On the contrary we fell victim to foreign aggression, including from the US," Somsavat Lengsavad, who is also foreign minister, told reporters.

"The American air forces dropped bombs all over Laos from 1964 to 1973 in the amount of more than three million tonnes. At present the Lao people still face human casualties from that."

Laos was the scene of an intense and unofficial conflict that ran in parallel with the Vietnam War and resulted in the United States carpet-bombing much of the northern and eastern parts of the country.

The comments by Megawati and Somsavat came as US Secretary of State Colin Powell was preparing to fly to Jakarta for Friday's annual meeting of the 23-nation ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which is the Asia-Pacific's only security grouping.

Powell is likely to encounter a much warmer response from US allies in the region. Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore have all joined the US-led military coalition in Iraq.

The United States has also calmed Malaysia and Indonesia over suggestions it was considering deploying marines to patrol the Malacca Strait against terrorist threats.

Malaysia and Indonesia denounced the suggestion as a threat to their territorial sovereignty.

After meeting with US Admiral Thomas Fargo on June 21, Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Razak said the dispute had been resolved and the US did not intend to patrol the waters. Rather, it would share intelligence and possibly hold joint military exercises.