Soeharto, Kohl cast work aside<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto and German Chancellor Helmut
\nKohl put aside their stately worries for a while, spending a
\nrelaxing day fishing and drinking coconut milk in the Thousand
\nIslands yesterday.<\/p>\n
Kohl, who officially begins his visit here today, arrived in
\nJakarta Saturday afternoon. He was immediately taken by
\nhelicopter to Bira Kecil Island in the Thousand Islands, North
\nJakarta, where he spent the night as Soeharto's guest.<\/p>\n
The past day and a half were spent with Soeharto in a casual
\natmosphere on the island. Also present were Indonesian State
\nMinister for Research and Technology B.J. Habibie and Soeharto's
\nsecond son Bambang Trihatmodjo.<\/p>\n
Kohl is in Indonesia for the first leg of his southeast Asian
\ntour, which includes the Philippines and Japan. He is scheduled
\nto depart for Manila tomorrow.<\/p>\n
This is the third time this year the two leaders have met. The
\nfamiliarity was reflected in the ease with which they received
\neach other.<\/p>\n
The day began at 8:00 a.m. yesterday with Soeharto and Kohl,
\nin informal attire, heading out to the docks on Bira Kecil where
\nthey boarded a speedboat to go fishing.<\/p>\n
Soeharto is known to be an avid angler, often going on fishing
\ntrips during holidays.<\/p>\n
The 400-horse-power speedboat took them about 12 miles
\noffshore before Soeharto and Kohl cast their hooks out to sea.<\/p>\n
The relaxed atmosphere was heightened with smiles as one of
\ntheir hooks soon caught a large kerapu (serranus) fish.<\/p>\n
At about noon the boat headed to nearby Pramuka Island.<\/p>\n
There they toured a turtle-breeding center where hawksbill
\nturtles are hatched and released.<\/p>\n
The center was established with the aid of Japanese funds and
\naims to conserve the depleting number of hawksbill turtles in the
\narea. It is one of four such facilities in the world; the others
\nare located in Cuba, the Solomon Islands and Australia.<\/p>\n
Soeharto and Kohl then released a batch of some 365 turtles
\naged between a few days and three years old.<\/p>\n
\"Good luck, don't get eaten by the fish,\" Soeharto was heard
\nmurmuring as he released the fledgling baby turtles into the open
\nsea.<\/p>\n
Soeharto explained to Kohl that turtles are a commodity much
\nsought after for their shells which are used for various
\nornaments and jewelry.<\/p>\n
While on the island the two leaders were also seen sipping
\ncoconut milk provided by some of the local residents.<\/p>\n
Accompanying them to the island were Habibie and Jakarta
\nGovernor Surjadi Soedirdja.<\/p>\n
After a one-and-a-half-hour stay on the island, they headed
\nback to Bira Kecil before returning to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Discussion<\/p>\n
Kohl and Soeharto are scheduled to hold a 90-minute bilateral
\ndiscussion this morning.<\/p>\n
While trade and economic issues are expected to top the
\nagenda, there has been growing pressure for the German Chancellor
\nto bring up the issue of human rights and particularly East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta, who lives in Australia,
\nhas said that Germany is the European state with the most
\ninfluence over Indonesia and should push harder on the issue of
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen whether Kohl will emphasize this issue,
\nespecially since his visit here is designed to boost trade
\nrelations, which have grown by some 75 percent in the past five
\nyears. Two-way trade stood at US$4.4 billion last year.<\/p>\n
The significance of trade relations is highlighted further by
\nKohl's entourage which includes Minister of Economics Gunter
\nRexrodt, Minister of Tourism and Telecommunications Wolfgang
\nBotsch, Minister of Education, Technology and Research Jurgen
\nRutgers and nearly 70 German business leaders. (mds)<\/p>\n
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