Obama to stay away from Washington during G20 summit

Source: Xinhua | 11-12-2008 07:53

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. president-elect Barack Obama will stay away from Washington over this weekend when world leaders meet here for the G20 summit on financial crisis, a top Obama aide said Tuesday.

Obama will remain in his home town of Chicago for the weekend continuing preparations to enter the White House on January 20 and will host no foreign dignitaries, according to John Podesta, co-chair of Obama's transition team.

Obama's team made clear last week that the president-elect would not attend Saturday's summit of the Group of 20 (G20) nations.

"It's not appropriate for two people to show up at this meeting. The president elect will respect that we have one president at a time," Podesta told reporters.

Instead, some of Obama's closest advisors may meet with world leaders in Washington over the weekend, he said.

Obama has spoken by telephone with a number of world leaders who have offered their congratulations since his election Nov. 4.

Bush proposed the G20 summit on financial markets and the world economy to discuss efforts to halt a spiraling financial crisis that has severely cut growth around the world.

The G20, founded on Sept. 25, 1999 in Washington, is an international forum of finance ministers and central bank governors representing 19 countries -- Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the United States -- the European Union and the Bretton Woods Institutions, namely the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei