- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
October 27, 2010 Hanoi, Vietnam (KATAKAMI / ANTARA) - Visiting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has to cut short his working trip and return to Jakarta on Wednesday.
The president made the decision to return to Indonesia following a volcanic eruption in Central Java on Tuesday and earthquake-triggered tsunami in West Sumatra on Monday.
The president was forced to immediately return to Jakarta to monitor for himself the direct impact of the two separate natural disasters on the local people.
"President Yudhoyono has made up his mind to return to Indonesia on Wednesday," Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi told the newsmen in Hanoi, Vietnam, earlier in the day.
Sudi said the president was scheduled to directly head to Mentawai, West Sumatra, to obtain the first hand information about Monday`s powerful earthquake which was followed by a deadly tsunami.
President Yudhoyono and his entourage arrived in Hanoi on Tuesday evening for a state visit to attend the 17th Asean Summit.
The president`s party included the Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, the Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi and the Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.
Yudhoyono would start his activities in Vietnam on Tuesday by paying a state visit, which was at the invitation of Vietnamese President Nguyen Ming Triet.
The president made the state visit in connection with the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Vietnam, which fall on December 30, 2010.
According to the presidential spokesman for foreign affairs Teuku Faizasyah, the visit would focus on increasing the cooperation in the fields of politics, law, security, economy, development, social and tourism.
But at about 7.55 on Wednesday morning, the members of the presidential entourage were asked to pack their belongings and get ready to leave the hotel.
Consequently the Indonesian head of state had to cancel a number of his agenda in the visit to Hanoi, Vietnam.(*)
