Mandela, others set to be at ASEAN meet

Mandela, others set to be at ASEAN meet

HANOI (Reuters): Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung will attend next month's summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vietnam, diplomats said on Wednesday.

They said Vietnam had invited Chinese President Jiang Zemin to attend the Dec. 15-16 summit but Beijing had decided to send Vice President Hu Jintao instead.

Other notable guests include South African President Nelson Mandela, who would come as head of the Non-Aligned Movement, and Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, who would represent the Organization of African Unity.

Vietnamese officials were not available to comment. But diplomats said Obuchi might stay for up to one week, possibly visiting southern Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, and the old imperial capital of Hue in central Vietnam.