Abdurrahman suspects U.S. of siding with Megawati

Abdurrahman suspects U.S. of siding with Megawati

WASHINGTON (Agencies): Indonesia's ousted president
Abdurrahman Wahid said in interviews published Thursday he
believes the United States aided his rival, President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, in her rise to power.

Abdurrahman told the Washington Times there were intelligence
reports that six U.S. submarines were near his country on the day
parliament ousted him on July 23.

"The U.S. must not interfere in our internal affairs -- now it
looks like they take the side of Megawati," Abdurrahman said, but
added, "I would not risk concluding that the U.S. was involved in
my ouster. Only later can that be determined."

In a separate interview with the Times, national security
advisor Condoleezza Rice denied the United States had taken sides
during Indonesia's change of presidents.

"We did follow the Indonesian people's process, and we did not
tilt one way or the other until it was resolved," she said. "Once
resolved, the United States has to deal with the Indonesian
government that is in place."

In another interview, with the Washington Post, Abdurrahman
said U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz urged him not
to oppose Megawati.

"If she works for democracy, I will do nothing to oppose her,"
Abdurrahman told the newspaper.

Abdurrahman also said he planned to create a private
foundation to promote democracy and monitor human rights abuses
in his country.

He said he wanted to keep an eye on the military under new
leadership and said Indonesia needed a strong organization to
ensure that democracy was preserved.

He did not provide details about the foundation or when it
would begin its work.

Abdurrahman, who surrendered power to Megawati, the 54-year-
old daughter of Indonesia's founding President Sukarno, told the
Post he believed most Indonesians still supported him.

He also predicted the legislature that voted last week to kick
him out would be replaced in the next election. "I will
definitely win (if I run for president in 2004)," Abdurrahman
told the Post.

Abdurrahman left the United States on Wednesday after
undergoing medical tests at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Soon after his ouster, he said his blood pressure fluctuated and
his doctors feared he would suffer another stroke.

While in Baltimore he underwent tests on his blood pressure
and to assess the effects of two previous strokes.

Abdurrahman, who went to the hospital for a medical checkup,
is due to land at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
on Friday at 10:30 a.m. on Singapore Airlines SQ154 after transit
stops in London and Singapore, Antara reported.

His daughter, Zannuba "Yenni" Arifah Chafsoh Rahman, said that
her father wanted to go straight to his residence in Ciganjur but
on his supporters' request he will instead head for a mosque in
Matraman, Central Jakarta for a mass prayer.

"Then he and his supporters will parade to the nearby
Proklamasi monument on andong (horse-drawn carts) and becak
(pedicab)," Yenni said.