Megawati to attend D-8 Summit in Iran
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri will head for Iran on Tuesday morning to attend the D-8 Summit and hold talks with the country's leaders.
The President, along with an entourage including several ministers, would fly from Halim Perdanakusumah Airport in East Jakarta, her office said.
"Besides attending the summit, the President will hold bilateral talks with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami during her visit," it said.
The President was scheduled to hold separate talks with Khatami during the summit and would meet Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Said Ali Khameini at the end of the meeting.
The summit's main agenda was to discuss cooperation among member countries, especially in trade and economic affairs. The grouping, still relatively new, was developing concrete measures to give it more meaning, Megawati's office said.
The D-8 is a forum for eight developing countries -- Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt -- and was established in the mid-1990s.
Also traveling to Iran, Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda said the D-8 summit was originally to be held in Jakarta. The government had asked Iran to host the event because of the approaching general elections.
"We have a moral obligation to attend the summit and have to express our gratitude to Iran for accepting the chairmanship," Hassan said.
During the visit, Megawati would meet with the Indonesian community in Iran, including volunteer doctors and soldiers, who were providing medical aid and assistance to Iranians affected by the recent earthquake.
Also in the presidential entourage is Minister for Trade and Industry Rini Suwandi and State Secretary Bambang Kesowo.
Megawati will return to Jakarta on Feb. 20, to greet Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on his arrival here.
The next summit she will attend is the G-15 Summit in Venezuela on Feb. 27 -- her last overseas trip before election campaigning starts on March 11.