Gus Dur departs on visit to Middle East
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid left on Monday morning for a three-nation tour of the Middle East which will include a meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Using a specially chartered Garuda Indonesia Boeing 747-400, Abdurrahman and his entourage of 57 is expected to arrive in Kuwait City on Monday evening.
Included in the delegation are foreign minister Alwi Shihab and Minister of Mines and Energy Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
He will visit Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan over five days.
He is scheduled to meet Arafat in Amman.
Kuwaiti Emir Sheik Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and Prime Minister Sheik Saad Al Abdallah Al-Salim Al-Sabah were due to meet him at Kuwait International Airport.
Abdurrahman is scheduled to stay in Kuwait for two days.
State Secretary Ali Rahman has said that Abdurrahman would focus his visits in Kuwait and Qatar on discussing the oil industry. A Kuwaiti firm is reportedly investing in a US$2.4 billion oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Selayar Island, South Sulawesi.
Indonesia is Asia's only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
On his way to Amman on Tuesday, Abdurrahman will hold a four- hour stopover in Doha, Qatar, to meet with Qatari Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifah Al-Tani.
Just two hours after his arrival in Amman, the President is slated to hold a bilateral meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah.
Abdurrahman will meet Arafat on Wednesday morning.
He is expected to brief the Palestinian leader on Indonesia's plan to open trade ties with Israel without any change in Indonesia's stance on Palestine.
The proposal has caused an outcry in Indonesia and questions abroad despite Jakarta's continued denial that it would be precursor to diplomatic relations.
In his capacity as the president of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), Abdurrahman will address a meeting of the conference in Amman on Thursday morning.
He is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Friday morning to attend a meeting with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.(prb)