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APEC leaders don Andean ponchos for Lima summit photograph

Other News Materials 23 November 2008 22:28 (UTC +04:00)

The 21 leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum economies donned brown ponchos Sunday to be photographed on the last day of the bloc's 16th annual Leaders' Summit in Lima, dpa reported.

Presidents George W Bush of the United States, Hu Jintao of China and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, among others, looked amused as they posed and waved to reporters.

The poncho, usually made of alpaca wool, is typical of Peru's Andean South.

Since they were first held at the top level in 1993, APEC Leaders' Meetings have dressed political giants in clothes typical of the host country.

Such photo ops relax the general atmosphere, and provide the public around the world with the chance see the world's most powerful personalities in a new light, almost in disguise when they have to cross cultural lines.

Over the years, APEC has shown its leaders in US bombardier jackets, Indonesian batik shirts, Chinese Tangzhuang jackets and Chilean chamantos, among other newcomers to global diplomacy.

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