King Salman Arrives at Halim Airport

Jakarta, 2 Jumadil Akhir 1438/1 March 2017 (MINA) – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta, Wednesday (1/3) as a part of a month-long Asia tour which includes Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, China and the Maldives..

King Salman King walked down the escalator specially brought from Saudi..

President Joko Widodo welcomed by the President Joko Widodo along side with  a number of officials that included Cabinet Secretary Pramono Agung, Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly, Minister of Education and Culture Muhadjir Effendi, Vice Foreign Minister A.M. Fachir, Alwi Shihah, Presidential Special Envoy to the Middle East region.

Also present to greet the King were Indonesian National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, the TNI Commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo, as well as Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama and National Intelligence Agency BIN chief Budi Gunawan.

After greeting the King, President Widodo then got into his car and headed for the Bogor Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java.
King Salman and the president boarded separate cars.

Bogor Palace is one of six Presidential Palace with unique characteristics due to historical aspects, culture, and fauna. From 1870 to 1942, Bogor Palace is the official residence of 38 Dutch Governor-General and one British Governor General..

Bogor Palace was a favorite place of President Jokowi to hold a cabinet meeting and receive state guests. Besides Jokowi, the presidents who have occasionally based at the Bogor Palace were Soekarno, Soeharto, Gus Dur, and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

King Salman is coming  to Indonesia with 459 tonnes of equipments, including two Mercedes-Benz S600s and two electric lifts, Indonesian media reports said.

There are 620 people coming as part of his entourage as well as 800 delegates, including 10 ministers and 25 princes.

King Salman comes to Indonesia to reciprocate President Jokowi visit to Saudi Arabia in September 2015.

King Salman’s visit to Indonesia for nine days is aimed at reciprocating the trip by the President Jokowi to Saudi Arabia in September 2015.

The last visit of the King of Saudi Arabia took place in 1970 when King Faisal bin Abdulaziz arrived in Indonesia 47 years ago. Not surprisingly, the visit of the king who dubbed himself as the Custodian of the Two Holy Cities was greeted enthusiastically by Indonesians and various parties in the country.  .(L/R04/RS05)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)