No point to the summit

THE Sydney Morning Herald’s lead editorial today derides the United Nations’ reform effort as “not so much a recipe for radical reform of the international system as a damp squib.” This week’s U.N. summit may be touted as the biggest gathering of world leaders ever, but that superlative is less important than the bottom line, the paper argues. Like previous gatherings of the hulking international body, it says, this summit will end without reform on the most important matters, including Security Council expansion, nuclear proliferation and disarmament and a definition of terrorism.

An editorial in the national paper The Australian praises Indonesia’s death sentences for two men involved in the September 2004 bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, saying it demonstrates how important a definition of terrorism would be for both international and national laws. Though the paper is thankful that the bombers are receiving Indonesia’s harshest sentence, it bitterly notes that Indonesia gave Jemaah Islamiah leader Abu Bakar Bashir a mere 26 months in prison for his role in planning the 2002 Bali bombings. Harsher international and national laws on terrorism not only would have led to a tougher sentence for Bashir, the paper says, but would have put him behind bars even before the 2002 incident because of his earlier efforts to incite terrorist acts.

Japan’s Daily Yomiuri notes the resumption of six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. If the talks fail, the paper says, the only option will be taking the matter to the U.N. Security Council -- a last resort for Japan even if it won’t find a seat there in the near future.