Mega, Zia to talk on hot issues

Mega, Zia to talk on hot issues

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Trade and counterterrorism cooperation are expected to top the
agenda of bilateral talks between visiting Bangladeshi Prime
Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Arriving at the Halim Perdanakusumah airport on Friday night,
the Prime Minister is slated to have a meeting with President
Megawati at the State Palace on Saturday.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said
the two leaders would discuss various bilateral issues.

"Both countries share the commitment to terrorism eradication
and cooperation in dealing with the issue," Marty said on Friday
in a weekly press briefing.

The two leaders are also scheduled to witness the signing of a
memorandum of understanding to establish a joint commission
between the two countries.

Aside from Megawati, the Prime Minister is slated to hold
separate meetings with Vice President Hamzah Haz, House of
Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, People's Consultative
Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and other high-ranking officials.

Megawati will host a State Banquet for the visiting Bangladesh
leader later in the afternoon.

No press conference has been arranged following the bilateral
talks between the two leaders, but a press statement will be made
available by foreign affairs ministers from both countries.

Zia is the first Bangladeshi leader to visit the country since
the slain president Ziaur Rahman, who was Zia's husband, in 1978.

Megawati visited Dhaka in June last year, where the Prime
Minister asked Indonesia to support the inclusion of Bangladesh
in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

Marty said the two leaders would also discuss various global
and regional issues, such as the development of the Organization
of Islamic Conference (OIC), the Asia-Africa Sub Regional
Organization Conference (AASROC) and on the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM).

Both Zia and Megawati are women leaders of two of the largest
Muslim-majority nations in the world.

The Prime Minister will pay homage to Indonesian heroes at the
Kalibata heroes cemetery in South Jakarta on Sunday, before
leaving for Brunei Darussalam later in the day.