Akbar leaves Jakarta on haj pilgrimage

JAKARTA: House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who is also a suspect in a Rp 40 billion corruption case, left on a haj pilgrimage on Thursday.

Akbar, who also chairs Golkar Party, is in the same group of pilgrims as Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Al-Munawar, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Affairs Jusuf Kalla, Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah, State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mua'rif and State Minister for Women's Empowerment Sri Redjeki Sumarjoto.

The state officials flew from Soekarno-Hatta airport to Mecca at about 8 a.m. on Thursday.

Vice President Hamzah Haz previously canceled his haj pilgrimage until next year, saying that he could not leave the country due to the "deteriorating domestic condition, with floods and natural disasters". -- Antara