President may cancel October overseas trips

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Following the deadly Bali bombing, President Megawati Soekarnoputri is considering scaling down her overseas trips.

An official at the State Secretariat told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the current situation in the country, which required extra attention from the President, was the main reason for the President to cut back the amount of time spent abroad.

The source said the President would still attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Mexico and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) summit in Cambodia, but may skip the G-15 summit in Venezuela.

"The President may skip the G-15 summit in Venezuela and cancel the planned state visit to Cuba," the official said.

However, the presidential office is yet to make an official announcement on the change.

Megawati was originally scheduled to leave the country on Oct. 20 to visit Cuba ahead of the three-day APEC summit starting on Oct. 25 in Mexico.

After the APEC meeting, she was scheduled to attend a G-15 summit in Venezuela until Oct. 30, then make stop-overs in Switzerland and Greece before proceeding to Cambodia for the ASEAN summit.

"The President needs to attend the APEC summit as it will be a good opportunity to face the international community regarding the recent bombing in Bali," the official said.

While on the Nov. 2 to Nov. 5 ASEAN summit, as one of the founders of the organization, Indonesia could not skip the annual meeting, he said.

"Actually it is difficult for us to cancel the state visit to Cuba as it concerns our good bilateral relations, but we hope they can understand that the decision is due to our security climate in the country," the official remarked.