General with many cards

JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. A. Wahab Mokodongan has, almost on a daily basis, been hanging around the People's Consultative Assembly, but no one seems to know what he is really doing.

One day he was seen standing in a corner of the main congress hall, wearing a dark suit bearing an "observer" identity card.

On another occasion he was seen wearing a "guest" identity card.

The strong-faced but friendly general was seen on Thursday accompanying the head of the Armed Forces faction Lt. Gen. Yunus Yosfiah in a dialog with 20 students of the state-run University of Indonesia. But Wahab is not a faction member.

Yesterday he disclosed his multiple role.

He took a card inscribed with "(official in charge of) session affairs" out of his suit pocket.

"I always bring at least two ID cards every day," he said, adding that he has another card given out only to security officers. (amd)