Congratulations pour in for new President

Congratulations pour in for new President

JAKARTA (JP): Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung said
yesterday that President B.J. Habibie had received a slew of
congratulatory letters from foreign counterparts since being
appointed president on Thursday.

Among the those mentioned by Akbar were German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl and President Roman Herzog; Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy Anwar Ibrahim; Australian Prime
Minister John Howard; Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto;
United States President Bill Clinton and Singaporean Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong.

According to Akbar, apart from congratulating Habibie, the
world leaders also conveyed their readiness to continue working
with him and further boosting bilateral relations.

Akbar said Clinton welcomed Habibie's commitment to pursue
reform and urged the Indonesian President to conduct transparent
dialog in the reform process.

In an effort to explain recent domestic developments, Habibie
also personally held marathon talks with several foreign
ambassadors Monday and yesterday.

Monday's session lasted from late in the afternoon to about 10
p.m.

Habibie talked with, among others, ambassadors from Australia,
Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the
United States.

"The President invited the ambassadors to give a firsthand
account of the political situation in our country," Akbar said.

"In fact, he even related the steps he would take in the near
future to respond to people's demands for reform."

Meanwhile, Singaporean President Ong Teng Cheong also sent a
letter yesterday expressing "warmest congratulations" on
Habibie's appointment.

The letter was sent two days after Prime Minister Goh Chok
Tong sent his. (prb/mds)