Gus Dur meets Soeharto, Benny

Gus Dur meets Soeharto, Benny

JAKARTA (JP): Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid pushed ahead on
Saturday with his campaign for national reconciliation and met
with former president Soeharto and former Armed Forces (ABRI)
chief Gen. (ret) L.B. "Benny" Moerdani.

In the meeting at Soeharto's Cendana residence in Central
Jakarta, the former president expressed his readiness to hold a
dialog with his successor B.J. Habibie, Minister of Defense/Armed
Forces Chief Gen. Wiranto and Abdurrahman himself.

Abdurrahman, the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said
Soeharto agreed to the meeting as he was concerned with the
country's recent developments.

The four-leader meeting will take place as soon as Habibie,
who also met with Abdurrahman last week, gives the nod. Wiranto
has reportedly given the green light.

"He (Soeharto) said we must take action, otherwise, the
development process will not bear fruit," Abdurrahman said after
the one-hour meeting with Soeharto.

When asked why no other leaders were involved in the planned
dialog, Abdurrahman replied: "You see, Pak Habibie represents
civilian bureaucracy, Pak Wiranto speaks for the military, Pak
Harto has many followers, and I myself have many followers from
NU".

Soeharto and his son Bambang Trihatmodjo greeted Abdurrahman
at the door. Abdurrahman was accompanied by his private doctor
and younger brother Umar Wahid, and his daughter Yenny.

The presence of leader of the Pemuda Pancasila youth
organization, Yorris Raweyai, attracted journalists' attention.
He also organized a press conference for Abdurrahman.

Abdurrahman said he did not see any need to invite other
public figures to join the planned dialog, arguing their presence
might complicate matters.

He declined to say when the meeting would be held, adding he
had to consult Habibie first.

Habibie had previously turned down the plan to hold a national
dialog among the country's top leaders saying he doubted the
effectiveness of such a notion.

He softened his stance after meeting with Abdurrahman last
week, saying though national dialog was important, there was no
need to formalize it.

Abdurrahman had earlier spoken about the need for national
dialog, citing the threat of social revolution looming large in
the country.

National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais, had
criticized Abdurrahman for going it alone in the campaign for
national dialog.

On Friday, however, Amien acknowledged that it was
Abdurrahman's prerogative to continue with his mission as long as
he did not say he was acting on behalf of the Ciganjur group of
reform leaders that comprise Amien, Abdurrahman, Megawati
Soekarnoputri and Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

Prior to the meeting with Soeharto, Abdurrahman met Moerdani
to discuss the planned meeting of the four figures.

"I have differences of opinion with Pak Benny," Abdurrahman
said after the meeting at Moerdani's office at the Centre for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Central Jakarta.

"However, our differences are still within the corridor of the
state ideology Pancasila," he said, but did not elaborate.

"I asked him about the credibility of several figures...," he
said, but declined to mention any names.

Moerdani refused to give details of his meeting with
Abdurrahman.

"I am not involved in the scheme for national reconciliation.
I have nothing to do with that," he told reporters.

When asked his opinion about the urgency of national
reconciliation, the formerly powerful general only said: "Gus Dur
said it was possible."

Moerdani said he disagreed with Abdurrahman's assumption that
the nation was on the brink of a social revolution.

"There have been commotions across the nation, but not social
revolution," he said. (prb/43/imn)