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)