[originaltext] The ongoing fight against terrorism is likely to dominate talk

The ongoing fight against terrorism is likely to dominate talks be tween Prime Minister John Howard and US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington today.
   Mr. Howard held informal talks about terrorism, Iraq and Afghani stan with US Vice President Dick Cheney at the weekend and is expected to build on those discussions when he meets Mr. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon.
   The prime minister arrived in Washington last Friday but has kept a fairly low profile throughout the weekend in order to catch up with his youngest son Richard, currently living in the US capital.
   But today his schedule speeds up with talks with Mr. Rumsfeld, US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and a major speech to the In ternational Democratie Union, an organization of about 70 conservative, Christian Democrat and other centre-right political parties from around the world.
   Mr. Howard plans to use his speech to praise Indonesia and Iraq for their push towards democracy.
   "Indonesia is now the third largest democracy in the world and it’s a point that I will be making in the speech I deliver," he told reporters.
    "I’ll (also) certainly be talking about the extraordinary courage of the Iraqi people in defying violence and intimidation and threats of death in order to embrace democracy. It’s one of the more inspiring democratic stories of the last few years."
   Meanwhile, Mr. Howard’s wife Janette is planning to present an Australian diamond to the Smithsonian Museum.