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)