President to make another trip abroad

President to make another trip abroad

JAKARTA (JP): Less than two weeks after his last overseas
trip, President Abdurrahman Wahid will embark on yet another trip
on Tuesday, which will take him to Malaysia, South Korea and
Singapore.

Head of State Protocol Rahmat Ranudiwijaya told a news
briefing over the weekend that Abdurrahman was scheduled to leave
for Langkawi on Tuesday morning to meet with Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Rahmat said that the scheduled talks in Langkawi were based on
an agreement made between the two heads of government during
Mahathir's visit to Jakarta earlier this year.

Abdurrahman will then travel to Seoul on Wednesday to attend
the two-day ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Summit which begins on
Friday.

The summit will bring 25 heads of government from Europe and
Asia together, as well as European Union President Romano Prodi.

Abdurrahman is scheduled to hold talks with at least eight
heads of state, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and
Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, during his stay in Seoul,
Rahmat said.

The President is scheduled to arrive home on Oct. 21 after one
refueling stop in Hong Kong.

On his flight back to Jakarta on Saturday evening, Abdurrahman
is scheduled to meet with Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew
during a brief stop in the city state.

Abdurrahman, who has visited some 35 countries since taking
office in October last year, has been criticized for putting
global issues ahead of unsolved domestic problems. (byg)