Posted on 08/13/2007 4:02:33 AM PDT by Fennie
TEHRAN (AFP) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday embarks on a three-nation tour of Central Asia to attend a major regional summit meeting and bolster Iran's links with neighbouring states.
The president will hold talks with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Tuesday before leaving for Turkmenistan and then attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Kyrgyzstan.
A source in the president's office said Ahmadinejad would be seeking to raise Iran's status at the SCO group -- which brings together Russia and China with other Central Asian states -- from observer to full member.
"On Tuesday, the president will go to Afghanistan for a one-day visit to reinforce bilateral ties and elevate cooperation," the source told AFP.
"The visit to Turkmenistan will be for one day to boost bilateral ties. On Thursday he will arive in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek for the summit with the aim of changing Iran's status from observer to member."
During the SCO summit, Ahmadinejad was to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Hu Jintao and other regional leaders, the source said.
The talks with the presidents of permanent UN Security Council members China and Russia come amid further warnings by Western powers that Tehran faces a third set of UN sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme.
Iran has been under mounting pressure from the West for failing to heed calls to halt its sensitive uranium enrichment operations.
Iran, along with Pakistan and Mongolia, is an observer nation at the SCO but is looking to enhance its role to make the group a counterpoint to US influence in the region.
Oh? President? Was this guy elected by somebody? He is no more a president than I am a turtle. Let’s stop giving these outlaw leaders titles as if they were real. He is a thug, and I might add, a Muslim.
Russia and China: The Mechanics of an Anti-American Alliance — The Journal of International Security Affairs
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1825547/posts
It’d be a pity if some kind of accident were to happen in his travels
The SCO should change its name to the Shanghai Terrorist Organization.
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