Go to Jerusalem on pilgrimage, Soeharto says

JAKARTA (JP): The government is encouraging Indonesian Moslems and Christians to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem through Jordan, President Soeharto said yesterday.

"We will encourage Moslems to visit the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem via Amman. This policy does not apply to Moslems only, but also to Christians," he said on board the Garuda Indonesia plane on his flight home, Antara reported.

The President returned to Jakarta after a week-long trip that took him to Jordan, where he met with King Hussein, and to Italy where he attended the World Food Summit in Rome.

Soeharto said Indonesian Moslems who had already gone to Mecca for the obligatory haj pilgrimage would be encouraged to go to Jerusalem, rather than go to Mecca for a second time.

This means that the 200,000 annual quota of haj pilgrims Indonesia receives from the Saudi Arabian authorities could be allocated to first timers, he said, recalling that each year the number of applicants for Mecca exceeds the quota.

Indonesia does not have direct access to Jerusalem, which is under the control of Israel. Thousands of Indonesians now travel every year to Jerusalem to visit the mosque, considered the second most holiest site for Moslems after the mosque in Mecca.

The Israel Embassy in Singapore has reported that it is issuing thousands of visas to Indonesians each year.

Most Indonesians travel through Jordan, with Royal Jordanian reporting heavy business on its Jakarta-Amman flight service.

"We hope Garuda can soon begin a service there (to Amman) because the present flights between Amman and Jordan are generally full," Soeharto said.

The President, who traveled extensively during his four-day stay in Jordan, said Jerusalem is one hour by land from Amman. "So they can leave in the morning and return to Amman by night."

In Amman, the President reiterated Indonesia's support of Arab countries in their conflict with Israel and joined in the chorus calling on Israel to resume the stalled peace negotiations.

Soeharto and his host King Hussein also looked at the possibility of countertrade deals to enhance trade. Indonesia has been importing phosphate fertilizer from Jordan, while its exports have consisted of plywood, textile, garment and shoes.

During his participation at the World Food Summit, Soeharto said Indonesia did not intend to show off with its success in achieving self-sufficiency in food.

"Indonesia was neither showing off nor seeking praise," he said of the Indonesian Pavilion which exhibited Indonesia's agriculture development and policies at the summit.

He said Jacques Diouf, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which organized the summit, had asked Indonesia to play an active role at the summit.

Diouf, who hails from Senegal, is no stranger to Indonesia for he studied at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines in the 1970s, Soeharto said.

The FAO asked Indonesia to help other developing countries gain confidence that they could overcome their food shortages if they had the commitment, he said.

Soeharto underscored the proposal he made at the Rome summit for a joint effort to build fertilizer plants, using natural gas that is being burned into waste at many gas fields.

Indonesia is prepared to help build the plants, but developed countries must come up with the funding, he said, noting that Central Asia and Nigeria could host such plants.

Turning to the domestic situation, Soeharto said Indonesian farmers should be encouraged to plant other crops besides rice, such as the high protein soybean.

Indonesia spends huge sums of foreign currencies each year to import soybeans and sticky rice, he said.

"Some people are cynical lately about the IPTN products being exchanged for sticky rice," Soeharto said, referring to the deal with Thailand to exchange PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara planes for glutinous rice.

"But the sticky rice is not the point. The point is we want to preserve the dollars," he said. (emb)