S. Africa awards Sukarno, Nehru

Tue, 26 Apr 2005, 00:00 WIB | Source: JP

JAKARTA: Fresh from his trip to Indonesia for the Asian-
African Summit, South African President Thabo Mbeki is slated on
Tuesday to confer posthumous awards on Indonesia's founding
president Sukarno and India's first prime minister Jawaharlal
Nehru.

The Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo (Gold), the highest
award in South Africa, are being conferred in recognition of
Sukarno and Nehru's roles in promoting Afro-Asian solidarity,
government officials said.

During the ceremony at the Union Building in Pretoria, the
late Sukarno will be represented by his daughter and former
president Megawati Soekarnoputri, while Indian member of
parliament Rahul Ghandi will represent his late great grandfather
Nehru.

Megawati left for South Africa on Sunday, skipping the golden
jubilee commemoration of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference that
Mbeki attended in Bandung. Preparations for the Asian-African
Summit began during Megawati's presidency. -- JP

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