Gus Dur plans to visit Australia, NZ in April

Gus Dur plans to visit Australia, NZ in April

JAKARTA (JP): April 5 is the latest date scheduled for
President Abdurrahman Wahid's on again off again plans to visit
Australia.

The latest date was revealed to the chairman of the Australia-
Indonesia Institute, John Reid, who, after meeting with
Abdurrahman at Merdeka Palace here on Monday, said the President
would embark on a six-day trip to Australia and then continue on
to New Zealand.

Abdurrahman is scheduled to visit Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
and Darwin, Reid said.

"The President said he wants to visit many towns so that he
can meet lots of people," Reid said.

Reid described bilateral relations between Jakarta and
Canberra as "dynamic and energetic".

Presidential aides made no comment on Monday regarding Reid's
statement, but palace sources said that presidential staff would
hold a meeting on Wednesday to hammer out details of the planned
visit.

Ties between Jakarta and Canberra nosedived after Australia
led an international peacekeeping force in East Timor following
the UN-organized self-determination ballot in August 1999.

At the time, Jakarta angrily scrapped a mutual security
treaty, and plans by Abdurrahman to visit Canberra have been
repeatedly postponed due to strong domestic opposition.

Abdurrahman has visited more than 50 countries, some twice,
since he took office 17 months ago and has come under fire for
his frequent overseas trips at times of domestic crisis.

The President has also been under intense pressure at home to
step down after the House of Representatives censured him on Feb.
1 over his alleged involvement in two financial scandals. (byg)