BBC World will telecast seven special interviews with some high-profile Asians in its forthcoming Hardtalk in Asia series starting 22 September. The series will conclude on 30 September.

The interviews were filmed earlier this month, when the show's award-winning anchor Tim Sebastian visited Asia for two weeks.

The first in the series will be Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda (on Monday, 22 September). Wirayuda will talk about the rise of radical Islam in Indonesia and the challenges of being a Muslim-dominated region. On Tuesday, Singapore's prime minister Goh Chok Tong will speak on Singapore's economy, its setbacks, the Sars epidemic, unemployment and threats from terrorists.

On Wednesday, Malaysian foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar will talk about Malaysia's role in the region and how his country is trying to conquer terrorism. On Thursday, the secretary general of the democratic alliance for betterment of Hong Kong, Ma Lik will be featured; on Friday Mustafa Ali, vice president of Parti Islam seMalaysia will speak about the role the religion is playing in winning votes in Malaysia.

After a break for the weekend, Hardtalk in Asia will be back on 29 September with a tete-a-tete with the founder of Hong Kong democratic party, Martin Lee. The last of the series will be an interview with neurosurgeon Dr Keith Goh, on 30 September. Goh had led the surgical team which had tried in vain to separate Ladan and Laleh Bijani, the 29-year-old Iranian Siamese twins.