Gus Dur on overseas trip again
Gus Dur on overseas trip again
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid has been
on foreign tours several times before, but his departure on
Wednesday night to begin a two-week eight-nation tour has the
most varied agenda, which includes a funeral service, a degree
convocation, an international conference and a medical checkup.
Flying a Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-330, Abdurrahman and his
entourage, which includes First Lady Shinta Nuriyah, are due to
arrive in Tokyo on Thursday morning.
The President's main schedule in Tokyo is to attend the
funeral of the late Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi.
The service is also an opportunity to meet other world
leaders, and in particular, Abdurrahman is slated to hold a brief
bilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
During his one-day stay in Tokyo, Abdurrahman is also due to
be the keynote speaker at an annual symposium of the Nihon Keizai
economic newspaper.
Included in the entourage are Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi
Shihab, Minister of Forestry and Plantations Nur Mahmudi Ismail,
and Minister of State Administrative Reforms Rear Adm. (ret)
Freddy Numbery.
From Tokyo, the President will continue his trip to the United
States. He will fly to Salt Lake City and Baltimore for a medical
examination. The checkup is a follow-up to last year's test on
his ailing eyesight.
From there Abdurrahman will fly to New York to squeeze in a
meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on
Tuesday. Later that evening he will cross the Atlantic to Paris.
The President is due to receive an honorary doctorate degree
from Sorbonne University.
Exactly 24 hours later, the presidential entourage will be in
the air again heading for a series of one-day stops in Tehran,
Islamabad, Bahrain and Oman.
His last stop will be a two-night stay in Cairo to attend the
G-15 summit which brings together 15 leading developing
countries. Indonesia is due to host the following G-15 Summit
next year.
The President is due back home on June 21. (prb/byg)