Achmad denies rift with Habibie on ICMI statement

JAKARTA (JP): The acting chairman of the influential Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), Achmad Tirtosudiro, has denied there is any split in the organization's leadership and insists that differences have been settled.

"It's not true that there's friction between me and Pak Habibie," he said, referring to Vice President B.J. Habibie who, technically, is still the chairman of ICMI.

Speaking to a gathering of some 5,000 Moslems at the Al Azhar Grand Mosque here Saturday, Achmad spoke about how he and ICMI secretary-general Adi Sasono recently gave their and the organization's endorsement for reform and for a possible extraordinary session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

Habibie later charged that Ahmad and Adi were expressing their personal views, not those of ICMI, and that a special session of the Assembly would undermine democracy.

Achmad said on Saturday that he recently had the opportunity to meet with Habibie and clarify matters. "I reaffirmed then that the (mine and Adi's) statement was the result of a meeting of ICMI branch executives," he said.

"I said: 'Had you been at the meeting, Bapak, you would have been amazed at how enthusiastic they were (ICMI executives for reform)'," Achmad said. "I told (Habibie) that now that he is the vice president, he should just concentrate on his duties, which are many."

"ICMI is my business," he said he told Habibie.

Achmad said Habibie seemed to have understood the matter and had even reported the development to President Soeharto.

Achmad claimed that Soeharto said "that's good" and that the President had known him a long time. "I know him. I know his devotion to Islam. He wouldn't do anything bad," Achmad repeated Soeharto's remarks about him as conveyed through Habibie.

Habibie will still chair the ICMI until 2000, when the organization will convene and elect a new leader.

Initiated by a group of students of Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, in 1990, ICMI has gone from strength to strength. Its chief patron is President Soeharto, while former vice president Try Sutrisno as well as many other prominent people are its advisors.

At some point of its existence, ICMI was considered to have so much clout that it was able to influence the recruitment of cabinet ministers. Its leaders, however, insist that the organization shuns politics. Adi, for instance, refused to recommend ICMI members to be included in the cabinet now that President Soeharto is about to reshuffle it. (swe)