Obama regrets over absence from APEC summit: Indonesia official

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A senior Indonesian official said here Friday that U.S. President Barack Obama called his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the morning, expressing his regret over the cancellation of his Asia trip that results in his absence from the APEC leaders' meeting slated for Oct. 7 to 8.

"He (Obama) expressed regret to President Yudhoyono and said the cause of the cancellation is the unfinished budget problem that requires him to keep staying in the U.S.," Indonesian presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told Xinhua over the phone.

President Obama has appointed Secretary of State John Kerry to attend the summit instead, the spokesman said.

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