Mega to attend Summit in Teheran

JAKARTA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri is slated to attend the D-8 Summit in Teheran, Iran later this month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Friday.

He said that the President would leave on Feb. 17 as the summit would be held on Feb. 18.

"It was actually Indonesian's turn to host the summit, but due to our tight schedule of events we asked Iran to take over the chairmanship," Hassan said after meeting the President.

The minister said Indonesian government had a moral obligation to attend the summit to thank Iran for its willingness to host the event.

D-8 is a forum for eight developing countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Egypt -- established in the mid 1990s.

Hassan said the forum was still looking for concrete cooperation to strengthen the ties of the eight member countries. -- JP