TOKYO (AP) — U.S. allies in the war on terror marked the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with memorial events for the victims and renewed resolve to keep fighting.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi warned today that terrorism remains as big a threat as ever, while Australia's premier promised that the values of liberty and freedom of religion would in the end emerge victorious. U.S. and Philippine troops fighting Islamic extremists in the jungles of southeast Asia prayed for peace and safety.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard echoed the determination at a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, saying "terrorism is the enemy of all people of good will."

Howard branded the strikes "an attack on the values that the entire world holds in common" and promised that the ideals of liberty and freedom of religion and speech "will in the end triumph."

The Australian leader also defended his decision to send troops to Iraq in support of the U.S.-led coalition and called the campaign to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan the first battle in the war on terror.

"As far as Afghanistan, it's been established beyond any real argument that that was the source of the Osama bin Laden-inspired attack and the Taliban and role of the Taliban and bin Laden in Afghanistan was really, in a sense, the beginning of this campaign of terror in the west," Howard said.

Another memorial ceremony was also planned for later today at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. Japan has also been a top supporter of the U.S.-led war on terror, sending troops to Iraq and aiding in logistics support to operations in Afghanistan.

In the southern Philippines, American and Filipino soldiers will mark the anniversary with a quiet ceremony, including prayers and troop formation, said Col. James Linder, commander of American forces in the country.

The Philippines has been the target of a string of attacks, including a 2004 bombing by the al-Qaida-linked group Abu Sayyaf that gutted a ferry in Manila, killing 116 people. It has been hosting the U.S. troops as part of the fight to rein in the violence.

"We will remember all of the many terrorist incidents that have happened in this area, to Americans and to all peace-loving people," Linder said. "All of those things were done by the most hideous type of enemy that all peace-loving people fear."