Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar has rebuffed a request by Filipino authorities to remain an interested party in the alleged rape case of a 13-year-old girl by Sabah policemen, saying that it should not be their concern.

Syed Hamid was commenting on a request by Filipino authorities for Malaysia to provide intermittent reports on the progress of the alleged rape case.

"We do not have to respond to what they (Filipino authorities) say. As far as we are concerned, what is most important is that we will take responsibility over the welfare of the underaged person," he told reporters after attending a briefing on the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit preparations at the Putra World Trade Centre.

The 13-year-old girl, who has been nicknamed 'Angelica' by the Philippine press, arrived in Sabah yesterday after spending several months under the care of welfare officials in southern Philippines.

She was mistakenly deported to the Philippines in September during a mass deportation exercise of Filipino illegal immigrants from Sabah. The girl was later found to be a Malaysian following investigations into the alleged rape.

No apology

Syed Hamid (photo, below) said since the girl is a Malaysian citizen, responsibility over her welfare lies with the Malaysian government.

"The person is our citizen. It is our responsibility. That's all we can say now. The rest of it should not be anybody else's concern," he said.

The foreign minister also said Philippines authorities have not apologised for criticising Malaysia over the treatment of the girl when she was thought to be a Filipina.

Syed Hamid and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad both said in October that Manila should apologise for issuing harsh public remarks over the matter without first consulting their Malaysian counterparts.

However, Manila had ruled out any possibility of an apology and said that it had acted as such because of outrage over the treatment of the girl.

During the height of the deportation period in September, bilateral relations between Kuala Lumpur and Manila soured over allegations by returning Filipino illegal immigrants that they had been ill-treated by Malaysian authorities while in detention.

Adding to bilateral tensions were claims that the 13-year-old had been raped by several Sabah policemen while she was detained in an immigration camp in the state.

However, Filipino indignance over the matter was quelled later when it was discovered that the minor is a Malaysian citizen and her parents, residents of Kota Kinabalu.

NAM 'renaissance'

Earlier, Syed Hamid told reporters that the preparations were in full-swing for the NAM Summit which is scheduled to take place from Feb 20-25 next year.

He said some of the main issues that will be discussed will include how to revitalise or bring about a "renaissance" of the movement.

"NAM has to be relooked in order to have confidence of its membership. It is important for the organisation to be respected. Otherwise, we can be meeting and making statements but nobody will listen," he said.

"I think the fact that we are a very diverse group should not be used as our weakness but rather as our strength...(to) understand our various needs better and to champion those needs so that the developing countries would be heard and well represented in this new global order."

In addition, Syed Hamid said the delegates are likely to discuss issues relating to global terrorism as well as the Palestine issue.

"I think the question of Palestine will be discussed. Depending on the situation in Iraq, the question of Iraq will be discussed and I think we also want to address the economic and trade issues but the emphasis will depend on each country and each leader.

"We will then come up with our own Kuala Lumpur Declaration," said the minister.

Tight security

On the security aspect of the event's organisation, Syed Hamid said safety of all delegates are of top consideration for the organisers.

"There is speculation (in Malaysia) about all sorts of things. We are not leaving anything to chance. The safety and security will be given top consideration. We have gone into every detail...Security is going to be very, very tight," he said.

The Non-Aligned Movement is a movement of 114 members that was established following the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Indonesia.

The movement aims to create an independent path in world politics and to resist influence by opposing Cold War world powers led on one side by the United States, and the other by the former Soviet Union.