"Some 290 LOs --aged between 17 and 40 years old and selected from students and public circles-- are assigned to help athletes and officials of the ISG," Maruli Pancamotan Silitonga, the coordinator of LOs for Chief de Missions (CDM)of the participating counties, said here on Sunday.
He said that the LOs were divided based on their assignment and sport brances to assist CDMs, coaches and athletes of the participating countries.
"There are also 13 LO coordinators for coaches and athletes because there are 13 sport branches competed in the ISG which last from September 22 to october 1, 2013," Maruli said.
He said that the liaison officers were required to master one of three foreign languages such as English, Arab and France, which were spoken by the participants. "They are all recruited from Palemang, the South Sumatra`s natives," Maruli said.
The number of ISG`s parcipants is estimated at 3,257, consisting of 2,668 athletes and 589 officials from 13 sports branches, namely athletics, aquatics, archery, badminton, basketball, soccer, karate, tae kwon do, tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, weightlifting, and wushu.
Forty-four countries were earlier reported to take part in the games, including Algeria, Azerbaijan, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Guyana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Morroco, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Tajikistan.
Others include Turkmenistan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Mauritania, Gambia, Nigeria, Jordan, Togo, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, Mozambique, Lebanon, Tunis, Somalia, Bahrain, Jibouti, Bangladesh and Chad.
The event will be participated in by around 3,200 athletes and officials from a number of Muslim countries.(A014/ )
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
