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Jokowi to attend Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (center left) and First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo (center right) arrive at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta on May 10. (Courtesy of the Presidential Office/File)
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eader of the world's biggest Muslim-majority country President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is set to attend the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, a top official has confirmed.
Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Indonesia Osama bin Mohammed Abdullah Al Shuaibi said on Tuesday that Jokowi would participate in the first ever summit to be held between leaders of Muslim-majority countries and US President Donald Trump, which aims to decouple Islam's image from terrorism.
For Trump, the visit to Saudi Arabia will be his first state visit.
Al Shuaibi said leaders at the summit aimed to present to the US a united stance of the Muslim world against the Islamic State (IS) group and terrorism at large.
"This summit will show President Trump that all Islamic countries have nothing to do with IS. They do not represent Islam. We are fighting these people and they deceive our people, our youth, into fighting with them," Al Shuaibi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The ambassador stressed that the IS group was not Muslim, saying the terrorist group was against Islam and delivered the wrong image of Islam to the people. Islam means peace, Al Shuaibi added, while urging united cooperation against the radical group.
Jokowi's participation at the summit will see him attend back-to-back high level meetings as the President will immediately return to Jakarta to welcome King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden on Monday, with the monarchs set to visit Indonesia until Wednesday.
