INQUIRER Sports

BEIJING -- At least 20 countries have said they will send senior officials -- heads of state or government, ministers or royal family members -- to attend the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing on Friday.

The list:
= HEAD OF STATE OR GOVERNMENT =
- Afghanistan: President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar
- Algeria: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
- Australia: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
- Brazil: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
- Croatia: President Stipe Mesic
- France: President Nicolas Sarkozy
- Gabon: President Omar Bongo Ondimba
- Japan: Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
- Monaco: Prince Albert
- Pakistan: President Pervez Musharraf
- Philippines: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
- Russia: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
- Serbia: President Boris Tadic
- South Korea: President Lee Myung-Bak
- Slovakia: President Ivan Gasparovic
- Switzerland: President Pascal Couchepin
- United States: President George W. Bush
- Vietnam: President Nguyen Minh Triet
= FOREIGN MINISTER =
- Canada: David Emerson
- Italy: Franco Frattini
- Spain: Miguel Angel Moratinos
= SPORTS MINISTER =
- India: Singh Gill
= OTHER =
- Belgium: Crown Prince Philippe, the son of King Albert II

German President Horst Koehler and Chancellor Angela Merkel decided several months ago not to attend the ceremony.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will not attend the opening ceremony, but will attend the closing ceremony.