Soeharto to tour the Americas
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto will embark on a lengthy overseas trip this Sunday that will take him to Colombia, the United States, where he'll visit the United Nations headquarters in New York, and Suriname.
Soeharto will be in the holiday resort of Cartagena, Colombia, between Oct. 17 and 20 to attend the 11th summit of the Non- Aligned Movement (NAM).
He will also hand over the leadership of the organization, which he has held since 1992, to Colombia's President Ernesto Samper, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono announced yesterday.
The President, according to Moerdiono, will travel to New York on Oct. 21-26 to attend the celebration of the United Nations' 50th anniversary and to address the UN's General Assembly.
Soeharto will convene a meeting of the NAM leaders who are represented in the 15-member UN Security Council before making his address at the assembly, Moerdiono said.
Indonesia, which is currently serving a two-year term on the council, currently heads what is known as the NAM Caucus within the Security Council.
The president will make a short hop from New York to Washington, where he will meet with local business leaders and visit a number of research and think tank centers.
Clinton
A meeting with U.S. President Bill Clinton is still being arranged, Moerdiono said at his office.
The President and his entourage will then travel down to Suriname for a three-day state visit on Oct. 27-29, the last leg of his tour.
A former Dutch colony, Suriname has a sizable population of Javanese residents, whose ancestors were shipped to the tiny South American republic by the Dutch chiefly to work on plantation estates.
Indonesia's senior diplomat Nana Sutresna, the Chief Executive Assistant to the NAM chairman, told reporters that President Soeharto will present an accountability report of Indonesia's three-year leadership at the Cartagena summit.
Indonesia assumed the leadership of the 112-strong organization of Third World countries toward the end of the Cold War. Questions have since been raised about the relevance of the movement, which was established in 1962 to accommodate countries wishing to stay neutral in the superpower conflict.
Over the last three years, the movement proved that it remained an indispensable organization through which developing countries can channel their voice in international forum.
Through NAM, for example, Indonesia has succeeded in drawing the attention of industrialized countries to the heavy debts of the poorest African countries, promoting North-South dialog, and in drawing up South-South cooperation programs.
Nana said that at least 52 heads of states and governments have confirmed their participation in the summit. Altogether, 82 NAM members will be represented, and 20 countries and international organizations will take part as observers.
A series of meetings will precede the summit in Cartagena. The first is at the senior official level on Oct. 14-16, after which a foreign ministerial level meeting will be held on Oct. 16-17. (emb)