US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage urged the world community today to help Indonesia achieve economic and political reform and to help rid Southeast Asia of terrorism.

In a speech to the Asia Society in Sydney, he also urged Australia to play a leading international role in the fight against terrorism.

Armitage, who is visiting Australia for talks with Prime Minister John Howard and key ministers, paid tribute to Canberra's current role in heading a stabilisation force in the Solomon Islands and to its regional leadership in general since the Bali bombings.

But he said Australia was now a "global power" which carried with it important roles and responsibilities.

Speaking a week after the Islamic terrorist attack on Jakarta's Marriott Hotel, he said world powers must hand together to rid Southeast Asia of terrorism.

"This is a time when the world community needs to help restore Indonesia's faith in herself, certainly by cooperating in counter-terrorism and law enforcement efforts," he said.

But he said they also needed to engage "across the board", particularly by helping Indonesia along the road to economic and to political reform, and in so doing to denying the terrorists the safe haven they often sought.

He dismissed reports here that the US had plans to base troops in Australia, saying while Canberra and Washington were firm allies, there were no such plans.

Armitage also sought to answer questions about the fact that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, saying that merely highlighted how easy it was to move and hide them.

But he was adamant the US and its allies would find the weapons, which were declared as a key reason for the US-led invasion of Iraq.

"The fact that it has taken this long to find the evidence is a chilling reminder that these programs are far too easy to move and far too easy to hide," he said. – Sapa-AFP.