President may cancel October overseas trips

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.