Summit Aims at Halting Militants

Facing a growing threat from armed Islamic fundamentalists, the leaders of Russia, China and three Central Asian nations signed a pact Wednesday aimed at promoting security along their extensive borders.

With Islamic fighters holding more than 130 people hostage in southern Kyrgyzstan and Russian forces bombing separatists in Dagestan, the five heads of state pledged to cooperate in countering religious extremism, international terrorism and weapons smuggling.

“The issue in question is the creation of a peace zone that would be unique for Asia along the common border of our five countries,” said Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin. “Fighting transnational crime, illegal drug trafficking and arms trade, religious extremism and separatism should be considered pressing.”

While the Bishkek declaration did not spell out a plan of action, it indicates the leaders’ concern over the growth of Islamic fundamentalism along the southern edge of the former Soviet empire.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, millions of people in southern Russia and Central Asia have publicly embraced Islam, reestablishing traditions once widely practiced in the region. Muslim groups such as the Wahhabi sect in Central Asia and the Uighurs in western China have emerged to challenge the rule of Communists and former Communists who hold power.

On the eve of the Bishkek summit, more than 350 Islamic gunmen moved across the border from Tajikistan into Kyrgyzstan, seizing about 130 hostages, including four Japanese geologists, the general who commands Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry troops and scores of villagers. Despite an assault launched by government troops hours before Yeltsin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin arrived in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, the rebels seized nine more hostages and expanded their territory to control five villages.

Tajikistan is attempting to recover from five years of war between ex-Communists and Muslim clans over who should rule the country. Another neighboring nation, Uzbekistan, has blamed recent turmoil on Wahhabis and cracked down on suspected sect members.

Russia has already fought and lost one costly war against Islamic fundamentalists, a 1994-96 conflict in the republic of Chechnya, and in recent weeks has battled to drive Chechen-led rebels out of the bordering republic of Dagestan. On Wednesday, a defense official traveling with Yeltsin said Russian forces were bombing the Muslim separatists in Dagestan as the fighters pulled back toward Chechnya.

“The events that have been unfolding in various corners of the world--on the one hand in Dagestan and on the other in Kyrgyzstan--testify to the fact that we have drawn the right conclusion: Religious extremism is a global threat, and we need to work very closely together,” Russian Foreign Minister Igor S. Ivanov told reporters at the summit.

The three Central Asian nations taking part in the summit--Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan--are former Soviet republics sandwiched between Russia and China. They have struggled economically since the breakup of the Soviet Union and have made only halting progress toward democracy.

The summit gave Yeltsin and Jiang a rare chance to meet privately. The two leaders gave each other a big hug for the cameras, but the nature of their talks was not made public.

The visit was Yeltsin’s first overnight trip outside Russia since October, when he fell ill and stumbled during a stop in Central Asia. Soon after, his poor health forced him to cancel a trip to Vienna; the Kremlin said he would no longer travel and was giving up many of his day-to-day responsibilities.

As in the past, however, Yeltsin has made a comeback and appears vigorous--for a man of 68 who has had bypass surgery, pneumonia, frequent back pain and a recurring ulcer in recent years.

“I feel really well,” Yeltsin told reporters on his arrival Tuesday night. “Right now I’m in good shape. I’m in combative shape, and I’m ready to fight anyone, especially Westerners.”

Yeltsin’s offhand remark highlighted a summit theme that the five nations must join together to counter the growing power of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Participants spoke often of the need for a “multipolar” world not dominated by the U.S.

“I don’t think the president actually meant fighting someone,” Ivanov explained. “A very active struggle for a future world order is underway. Russia, China and many other states are working to make this a multipolar one in which the interests of all states--big or small--would be taken into consideration.”

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Alexei V. Kuznetsov of The Times’ Moscow Bureau contributed to this report.