Statue of young Obama still debated

As plans firmed up for the US president's visit, one question was still a hot topic: Will a statue commemorating his Jakarta school years be removed - perhaps before he arrives?

The likeness of Obama as a 10-year-old was installed in Menteng park in central Jakarta in December 2009 to mark the four years he attended a local primary school there while living in Jakarta.

Little more than a month later, a campaign to pull down the statue has gathered momentum in the world's most populous Muslim nation which not so long ago embraced Obama almost as a native son.