Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who has arrived at Washington D.C. on Friday to attend the coming G20 financial summit, has returned home due to family emergency.
Balkenenda rushed back home at the news that his father just passed away, and left a vacant seat at the two-day Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy.
"I do want to begin my remarks by extending our heartfelt sympathies and prayers to Prime Minister Balkenende," Bush said at a White House reception dinner.
Bush said that the Dutch prime minister heard his father had passed away and asked for a leave over the phone.
"He returned back to his country to be with his family, and we wish them all the very best," said the host president.
A formal G20 summit talk was slated for Saturday at the National Building Museum, where all participants are expected to explore the root causes for the current economic crisis and seek solutions including a global financial reform.
It is the first time for the G20, which usually brought together finance ministers and central bankers at annual meetings, to hold a summit since it was established in 1999 in Washington D.C..
The body groups the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Britain, Canada, Russia, the European Union, Argentine, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.
Spain and the Netherlands are also invited to the summit although they are not counted as members.
Source:Xinhua
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