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Pawlenty again will attend high-level security conference in Munich
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty will spend the weekend hobnobbing with world leaders at the Munich Security Conference, a top-level foreign and security policy forum that will include more than a dozen heads of state and delegations from 50 countries.
Pawlenty, who attended last year's conference, was again invited by the leader of the U.S. delegation, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the man he backed for president and who came within a hair of selecting Pawlenty as his running mate.
Pawlenty is the only U.S. governor in the delegation, said his spokesman, Brian McClung. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., was also invited but will remain in Washington to help push through the $900 billion stimulus plan on the Senate floor, said her spokesman, Linden Zakula. The Senate vote also will derail McCain's plans to attend.
Long list of top leaders
The participants read like a Who's Who in the world and include French President Nicholas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Vice President Joe Biden, in his first foreign outing as vice president.
McClung said the U.S. delegation has 35 members, including 11 members of Congress.
Because Minnesota is sending a large contingent of soldiers to Iraq, where they will oversee a multinational force in eight of 18 provinces, McClung said, "the governor feels it's helpful to have a deep understanding of security issues."
The three-day conference will focus on European security and strategies, the NATO alliance, Russia's future and the Middle East. Sunday's panel will zero in on the military and diplomatic alliance in Afghanistan and the future of the mission there.
McClung said the federal government will cover the cost of the trip.
Patricia Lopez • 651-222-1288
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Current state office holders
Governor: Tim Pawlenty
One of only a few prominent Republicans to win a competitive re-election contest in the Democratic sweep of 2006, Tim Pawlenty is widely seen as politically shrewd and naturally likable.
- Lt. Governor: Carol Molnau
- Secretary of State: Mark Ritchie
- Attorney General: Lori Swanson
- State Auditor: Rebecca Otto
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