200-plus US officials in Port Moresby preparing for presidential visit

MORE than 200 United States government officials are already in Port Moresby to prepare for President Joe Biden’s visit next Monday, says Prime Minister James Marape.
Biden is expected to stop over in Port Moresby for three hours on his way to a summit of the Quad countries — the United States, Japan, India and Australia – in Sydney, the White House has confirmed.
While here, he is expected to meet the 18 Pacific Island leaders who are members of the Pacific Island Forum.
Marape yesterday said they began planning the visit last December.
More details would be released during the week.
Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr said yesterday that in terms of security, “we want to give comfort to our people”. “We want to limit the inconvenience as much as we can,” Tsiamalili added.
“However, given its prestige in terms of hosting both the US president (Biden), India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and our friends of the Pacific, we have engaged with both the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, and our counterparts from India.”
Tsiamalili warned those who operate drones that they would not be able to do so for a week.
“Notices will also be put out for different routes that will be used on that different days,” Tsiamalili added.