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)