Four Leaders Skip 15th Asean Summit Opening Ceremony

(Posted by CAAI News Media)

By D. Arul Rajoo

HUA HIN, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- The heads of governments from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines will skip the opening ceremony of the 15th Asean Summit here Friday due to their domestic commitments, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said.

He told a press conference that all the Leaders would join their counterparts from Thailand, Laos, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam and Brunei for other related Summits that end on Sunday.

Kasit said Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also the Finance Minister, was scheduled to present the government's 2010 budget report in the Malaysian Parliament tomorrow.

Najib, who is expected to arrive here about 9pm, will be represented by Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman at the opening ceremony in the morning and several other meetings.

Kasit also confirmed that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who created a storm in diplomatic relations with Thailand after publicly offering a place to stay to fugitive ex-Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, would attend the Summit.

Hun Sen is expected to fly in after the end of the official visit by South Korean president Lee Myung-bak to Cambodia.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is busy with the formation of the country's new cabinet which was sworn in Thursday.

The signing of the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of Asean was postponed to Sunday due to the absence of Indonesia's Foreign Minister Raden Mohammad Marty Muliana Natalegawa, who was only appointed today.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is likely to propose a US$5 billion Asean Cooperation Adaptation Fund during the Summit, is also expected to arrive here Friday night.

Bangkok has imposed the Internal Security Act (ISA) that bans rallies and dispatched about 36,000 security personnel to guard the Summit where 16 Leaders from the Asean, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand would be attending.

The red-shirted supporters of Thaksin, who stormed the East Asian Summit in Pattaya last April, had announced that they would not stage another rally here, but would instead send a seven-man delegation to hand over a memorandum to Asean leaders on Friday.