More foreign leaders congratulate Xi on election as Chinese president

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- More foreign leaders sent congratulatory messages Tuesday and Wednesday to Xi Jinping on his election as Chinese president.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, leaders who have offered congratulations to Xi on Tuesday and Wednesday included Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, Latvian President Andris Berzins, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Vanuatuan President Iolu Abil, Libyan National Congress Leader Mohammed Magarief, Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby.

Xi, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was elected state president and chairman of China's Central Military Commission on March 14 at the first session of the 12th National People's Congress.

Also on Tuesday and Wednesday, the following leaders congratulated Li Keqiang on his premiership endorsed on March 15: Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh, Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit, Dutch Prime Minister Rutte, Bosnia and Herzegovina Chairman of the Council of Ministers Vjekoslav Bevanda, Bulgarian interim Prime Minister Marin Raikov, Afghan Second Vice President Mohammad Karim Khalili, and Burundian Second Vice President Gervais Rufyikiri.

Speaker of the Zambian National Assembly Patrick Matibini, Speaker of the Chadian Parliament Haroun Kabadi, Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek, Croatian Parliamentary President Josip Leko, Lithuanian Parliamentary Speaker Vydas Gedvilas and Italian Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso congratulated Zhang Dejiang on his election as chairman of the NPC Standing Committee.

Turkish Parliament Speaker Cicek also congratulated Yu Zhengsheng on his election as chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Meanwhile, Serbian President Nikolic, Burundian First Vice-President Therence Sinunguruza, Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia Alik Alik and Afghan Second Vice President Khalili congratulated Li Yuanchao on becoming China's vice president.

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