Badawi due here for working visit

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdulah Ahmad Badawi is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Thursday morning for a working visit to meet with President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

After replacing Mahathir Mohamad in October, Indonesia is the second nation of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) he will have visited after Brunei Darussalam. According to the regional grouping's tradition, a member's new leader is expected to visit the ASEAN countries to introduce himself.

"Indonesian migrant workers will be one the topics of discussion between the Malaysian Prime Minister and President Megawati," Wirayuda said on Wednesday.

Badawi will travel here along with his foreign minister, Syed Hamid Albar. During the ASEAN-Japan Summit in Tokyo last month, Badawi already paid a courtesy call on Megawati.

According to Antara, Badawi will stay one night in Jakarta. However, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported that he would leave Jakarta on Thursday afternoon after his bilateral talks with Megawati and having attended a tea party with Malaysian expatriates in Jakarta.

The Malaysian media also reported that the problem of undocumented Indonesian migrants would be the biggest single issue that needed to be ironed out by the two neighbors. Malaysia remains the favorite destination for Indonesian illegal migrants, who mostly find work in the construction and plantation sectors, although the neighboring country continues to take harsh measures against them.

The two countries set a major precedent for ASEAN in resolving territorial disputes by asking the International Court of Justice to decide on the ownership of Sipadan and Ligitan islands. The court declared the two islands belonged to Malaysia.