Gus Dur cancels planned Aceh trip

Gus Dur cancels planned Aceh trip

JAKARTA (JP): Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid called off on
Thursday his plan to visit troubled Aceh, saying citing an
unfavorable mood among people in the province.

Abdurrahman, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim
organization, said it would be impossible to talk to people who
could not control their temper.

"The Aceh people are so emotional that it is not possible
to...discuss a common platform for (their) future," he said,
after addressing a seminar on the prospect of the Indonesian
economy organized by the NU's Economic Institute (LPNU).

However, he said, he did not intend to give up efforts to seek
a peaceful settlement in Aceh. "I'll go to Aceh if all the people
there can act rationally," he said.

"In the meantime, I'll still meet with Aceh leaders to discuss
the matter, the meeting sites of which you do not need to know,"
he told the media.

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, announced last week he
would leave on Friday for a two-day trip to Aceh to discuss
possible solutions for Aceh's problems with leading figures.

After seeing President B.J. Habibie last Wednesday, he
announced the situation was conducive for the trip as the Aceh
people would welcome him. He was rejected by Aceh students when
campaigning for the National Awakening Party (PKB) last May.

Though disappointed with the response from the people in Aceh,
Abdurrahman considered a referendum a possible solution for the
years of tension in the province.

"One of the methods to find out what the people of Aceh really
want is through a referendum," he said, while adding that the
referendum should be organized by Indonesia and did not
necessarily need to involve the United Nations (UN).

He dismissed speculations that giving Aceh independence was
the best way out of the problems, saying it was "a high-cost
decision."

The media conference ended in a verbal battle as Abdurrahman
ignored three Aceh women, who asked to meet him. "You are so
emotional. I do not want to talk to you," Abdurrahman told them.

One of the women yelled it was useless to talk to Abdurrahman
and said he would never be welcomed by the Acehnese.(imn)