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PHNOM PENH, Tuesday (AFP) Against a backdrop of terrorism and a looming war in Iraq, more than 1,700 spiritual leaders will seek out answers to global tensions as they gather here for the World Buddhist Summit this week.

Tep Vong, Cambodian supreme patriarch of the Mohanikay sect, said the religious delegates would sign a joint communique committing Buddhists to unprecedented collaboration aimed at building peaceful societies.

"It will help increase solidarity and communication among leaders of Buddhist sects," he said. "And it is very important for Cambodia. It will strengthen the new peace which has recently prevailed in this country."

Cambodia's religious affairs ministry said the three-day event beginning Thursday was timely as it was held against the backdrop of global war on terrorism, and the prospect of a US-led invasion of Iraq.

"The summit... will explore from an ethical and spiritual perspective what role Buddhism can play in world peace," said a department official.

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk will preside over the opening ceremony at the royal palace in Phnom Penh on Thursday with Kyuse Enshinjoh, president of Japan's Nenbutsushu Buddhist sect, who is the co-host of the event.

The theme of the summit, attended by religious leaders from 16 countries, is taken from Buddha's teachings: "To forgive, forget and to stop the chain of revenge."

Officials said security would be tight, along similar lines to the clampdown laid out in Phnom Penh when the city played host to the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in early November. 

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