Germany regrets demonstration<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The authorities of Sachsen (Saxony), embarrassed
\nby a hostile demonstration against President Soeharto during his
\nvisit to Dresden, expressed on Wednesday their regret over the
\nincident.<\/p>\n
The apology was personally extended by Kurt Biedenkopf, the
\nMinister President of Sachsen, during a dinner that he hosted for
\nSoeharto in Dresden on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n
Biedenkopf apologized and said that such an incident would
\nprompt a review of the local laws governing public
\ndemonstrations, Indonesian Minister\/State Secretary Moerdiono
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Germany's ambassador to Jakarta, Heinrich Seeman, also
\nexpressed his regret over the incident, said Moerdiono, who is
\naccompanying the President on his current overseas tour.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who was on his final leg of a six-day visit to
\nGermany, was greeted with a riotous demonstration as he toured
\nthe Zwinger museum on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
About 100 raucous demonstrators crowded the majestic
\nsurroundings of the museum, throwing anti-Indonesian pamphlets
\nand shouting profanities and allegations of human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
Local security officers initially seemed unprepared,
\napparently not anticipating such a protest, and allowed the
\ndemonstrators to close enough to obstruct the entry of President
\nand Mrs. Tien Soeharto into the museum.<\/p>\n
Despite the situation, Soeharto maintained his calm and as he
\nleft the building, under tight security, he smiled and waved to
\nthe hostile crowd.<\/p>\n
Later on, ambassador Seeman told Indonesian reporters that he
\nwas ashamed at the way the demonstrators acted.<\/p>\n
Demonstrations are a normal occurrence in democracy, he said,
\nbut what happened there was not a demonstration but brutality.<\/p>\n
Taking no chances, policemen ran alongside the president's
\nlimousine as it made its way back to the hotel.<\/p>\n
Wednesday's incident, according to some suggestions, may have
\nbeen instigated by a radical German rights group called Wolf
\nPelz, or Wolf Pelt.<\/p>\n
Some press reports have also suggested that two of the East
\nTimorese youths that occupied the United States embassy in
\nJakarta last November, and who eventually found asylum in
\nPortugal, were party to the demonstration.<\/p>\n
According to Moerdiono, despite the relentless vocal protests
\noutside, Soeharto insisted on attending the Biedenkopfs' dinner
\nreception at the Hilton hotel later that evening. \"The president
\ndecided to attend the reception because to cancel it would have
\nbeen submitting to the demonstrators' plans,\" he said.<\/p>\n
During the dinner, Soeharto told his host to disregard the
\nincident. \"I can understand what happened and it has past. Let
\nwhat has already passed be, because we have to look to the
\nfuture,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Moerdiono further asserted that the demonstrations would not
\novershadow the president's successful trip to Germany, which
\nincluded last Monday's opening of the Indonesian pavilion at the
\n1995 Hannover Fair.<\/p>\n
The president's visit to Germany has been marred by a string
\nof protests down to the day of his arrival when Soeharto was met
\nby a hundred demonstrators.<\/p>\n
Soeharto yesterday was scheduled to fly from Dresden to
\nAlmaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, for the second leg of his
\nfour-nation tour. Today he is scheduled to engage in talks with
\nPresident Nursultan Nasarbayev.<\/p>\n
His next two stops will be in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.<\/p>\n
Indonesian officials said his visit to the Central Asian
\ncountries is primarily to push Indonesian exports in the former
\nSoviet republics.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia represents a lot for us because of the size of the
\npopulation, its economic development and also because it
\ncurrently presides over the Non-Aligned Movement,\" Dulat
\nKuanyshev, press secretary to President Nasarbayev told AFP.
\n(mds)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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