Soeharto leaves for overseas trip

Soeharto leaves for overseas trip

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto flew out of Jakarta last
night on an 18-day trip that will take him to Mexico, Colombia,
the United States, Suriname, and either Saudi Arabia or Abu
Dhabi.

Soeharto departed from Halim Perdanakusuma air base on board a
special Garuda Indonesia plane.

His first stop is the Mexican resort city of Cancun, where he
will be making an overnight stop after a nearly 24-hour-long
journey with scheduled refueling stops in Guam and Honolulu.

On Tuesday, Soeharto and his entourage will proceed to
Cartagena, a panoramic Colombian holiday resort, to attend the
11th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

The Indonesian leader will hand over his three-year
chairmanship of the 112-nation group to his Colombian host.

Officials said that Soeharto has also scheduled meetings with
at least 12 NAM heads of governments in Cartagena.

On Friday, Soeharto will proceed to New York to attend the
celebration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

He will address the UN General Assembly. His previous
appearance at the assembly was in 1992 immediately after his
appointment as NAM chairman.

While in New York, Soeharto has scheduled meetings with at
least 13 other heads of governments, including the Japanese prime
minister, officials in Jakarta said.

On Oct. 26, Soeharto will proceed to Washington for a one-day
stay and a meeting with U.S. President Bill Clinton.

On Oct. 27, he will proceed to Paramaribo, the capital of
Suriname, for a three-day state visit.

He will start making his way home on Oct. 29, flying across
the Atlantic, with a scheduled refueling stop at Las Palmas in
the Canary Islands, before heading towards either Jeddah in Saudi
Arabia or Abu Dhabi, where he will spend one night.

He is expected to return to Jakarta on Nov. 1. (emb)