Soeharto lashes out at critics<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto lashed out at his critics
\nyesterday, saying they continually paint a bleak picture of
\nIndonesia despite the praise the government has won abroad.<\/p>\n
"Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries and other developing
\nnations have a very positive image of Indonesia," Soeharto told
\nreporters on board a special Garuda Indonesia plane flying him
\nhome after an 18-day overseas tour.<\/p>\n
"Everyone in this country should consider this as a
\ncompliment. But there are some groups in this country who insist
\nthat the nation is on the brink of disaster," he said.<\/p>\n
The President was returning from a visit to Colombia, the
\nUnited States, Suriname, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
\nEmirates (UAE).<\/p>\n
Soeharto attended NAM's 11th summit in Colombia, participated
\nin the special 50th anniversary commemorative meeting of the
\nUnited Nations in New York, held a bilateral meeting with U.S.
\nPresident Bill Clinton in Washington, made a working visit to
\nSuriname, went on an umrah minor pilgrimage in Mecca and held a
\nbilateral meeting with UAE President Zayed Sultan al-Nahyan in
\nAbu Dhabi.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who was accompanied by First Lady Tien Soeharto and
\na number of cabinet ministers, held bilateral meetings with more
\nthan 20 heads of state\/government while he was in Cartagena,
\nColombia, and in New York.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said NAM leaders have appreciated Indonesia's efforts
\nto redirect the focus of the organization towards poverty
\nalleviation, the promotion of cooperation among developing
\ncountries, dialog between industrial and developing nations and
\nreduction of the debt burdens of the poorest developing
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
The redirection of NAM was formulated at its 10th summit in
\nIndonesia in 1992 and the NAM leaders summit in Cartagena, just
\nconcluded, vowed to continue in the same direction.<\/p>\n
Happy<\/p>\n
"We are happy because Indonesia's leadership has been
\nrecognized as having redirected the movement towards policies
\nwhich are more suitable to the post-Cold War conditions --
\neconomic cooperation among developing countries and between
\ndeveloping and industrial nations based on partnership and mutual
\nbenefits," Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
Although Indonesia no longer chairs NAM, the organization's
\nmembers have asked that Jakarta continue to assist in finding
\nways to ease the debt burden of the poorest countries, he said.<\/p>\n
"Indonesia will assign former ministers to help least-
\ndeveloped countries in their negotiations with donor countries
\nand organizations to look for the reduction of their debt
\nburdens," he said.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said other countries, such as the UAE, have
\nappreciated Indonesia's ability to produce high-quality products.<\/p>\n
The appreciation was conveyed by UAE President Zayed during a
\n30-minute meeting with Soeharto at the VIP terminal of the Abu
\nDhabi international airport on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
Present at the meeting were the emirates' chief of the armed
\nforces, Muhammad Zayed al-Nahyan, Minister of Domestic Affairs
\nSaid al-Badri, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas,
\nState Minister for Research and Technology B.J. Habibie and State
\nMinister\/State Secretary Moerdiono.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said the UAE has bought a number of Indonesian-made
\nCN-235 aircraft and plans to buy more for its maritime patrol
\nservice.<\/p>\n
"This is pleasing because other countries have appreciated
\nIndonesian products," Soeharto said. "However, there are some
\nparties in Indonesia who cannot appreciate and are not satisfied
\nwith domestic products, merely because they are narrow-minded,"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
"We do not say that such parties are 'a-nationalist'. We feel
\ntheir lack of appreciation is simply a result of their
\nignorance," the head of state added.<\/p>\n
The chief executive of Indonesia's Merpati Nusantara Airlines,
\nRidwan Fataruddin, recently refused to lease CN-235 planes,
\nsaying they were too costly to operate in comparison with the
\nalternatives. Merpati is a subsidiary of the state carrier Garuda
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Senior officials of the Ministry of Transportation have since
\nannounced that Ridwan and a number of other directors are to be
\nrelieved of their positions on the Merpati board.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto also referred to his meeting with Israeli
\nPrime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in New York, saying he discussed
\nonly affairs related to the latest developments in the Middle
\nEast.<\/p>\n
"We did not discuss bilateral affairs, such as the opening of
\ndiplomatic ties," he said. (riz)<\/p>",
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