Mega to attend Summit in Teheran

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