Ali's flesh may be weak but his spirit is still punchy

JAKARTA (JP): Boxing legend Muhammad Ali yesterday showed that the Parkinson's disease he developed in 1984 may have weakened his body but not his spirit.

Again and again he raised his fists as if ready for a fight, and jokingly challenged several journalists to trade punches with him. He repeated a magic trick with a red handkerchief he had performed upon his arrival at Sukarno-Hatta international airport on Sunday.

He then demonstrated a levitation. His feet appeared to be about two millimeters off the floor. He did not answer questions about how he did it or where he learned it.

When asked whether he was still the greatest, he lifted up his right hand to heaven and said Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest).

According to Yulia of Harvest International Inc., which is organizing Ali's visit, Ali's tentative itinerary for his six-day trip includes a visit to the Harapan Kita hospital in West Jakarta today through which he will symbolically donate 100,000 meals to poor Indonesian children.

At 6.45 p.m., Ali will host a banquet for all the participants in the Islamic Conference Organization, government officials and business people, at the Grand Hyatt hotel, at which he stays during his Indonesian visit.

Tomorrow he is scheduled to meet President Soeharto.

On Thursday, at 7.30 a.m. he will meet with Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Azwar Anas. At 7 p.m., Ali might attend a local professional boxing tournament where he might meet with chairman of the Indonesia Professional Boxing Association Hendropriyono.

He is scheduled to leave on Friday. (arf)