Visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid tribute to Indonesia's national heroes here Thursday morning.
The president, who arrived in Jakarta Wednesday morning heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, has held talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
On Friday afternoon he is scheduled to fly to the Indonesian island of Bali to attend the fifth summit of the D-8 (Group of 8 developing Muslim countries) set to begin on Saturday.
He and his accompanying delegation early Thursday attended a ceremony to honor Indonesia's national heroes at their burial site in Jakarta, where he laid a wreath of flowers on their tombs and signed a memorial book.
Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, proclaimed independence in 1945 after almost 350 years under colonial rule.
It won independence as a result of the intervention of the British and United Nations Security Council and was granted complete and unconditional sovereignty on December 27, 1949.
The visiting Iranian president is scheduled to visit an Indonesian university later on Thursday and talk with academics and Islamic leaders. He is also scheduled to deliver a speech at the university.
Indonesia, with a population of over 900 million, is the world's most populous Muslim state. It has good relations with Iran and both are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
During talks Wednesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed support for Tehran's legitimate right to access nuclear technology and offered Jakarta's help as a mediator in Tehran's current standoff with the West.
President Ahmadinejad is accompanied by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Soleymani and head of the World Assembly for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thoughts (WAPIST) Ayatollah Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri.
The D-8 groups the Islamic Republic of Iran, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
Taken from Islamic Republic News Agency
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