Gus Dur prays at Kyais grave

KROYA, Central Java: President Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur as he is familiarly known, paid a brief visit and prayed at the grave of Kyai Mbah Barokah, a local spiritual leader, late on Sunday in the town of Kroya, some 50 kilometers east of Cilacap.

Abdurrahman, accompanied by his wife Shinta Nuriyah and one of his daughters, Zanuba Arifah Chafsof Rahman, arrived in the town at around 8:30 p.m. by train from Jakarta. He was accompanied by local Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leaders during the 20-minute visit.

There was no official welcoming ceremony from the local administration.

Locals said the President had visited the grave twice before prior to his being elected president.

Barokah was known as a devoted NU figure and was said to be the teacher of Abdurrahman. He was born in Kroya on May 5, 1925 and died on May 17, 1994.

Before the visit, a business class train, the Gaya Baru Malam, plying the of Surabaya-Jakarta route, derailed late on Saturday at Legok-Petuguran railroad station some 32 kilometers west of Purwokerto railroad station.

The Surabaya-Jakarta line was paralyzed for almost six hours due to the incident and trains only began running again at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Speculation that the incident was sabotage immediately spread as the occurrence took place only hours prior to President Abdurrahman Wahid's visit to Kroya.

Local head of the Indonesian Railroad Company (PT KAI) Tisna Jaya dismissed the speculation saying that the incident was caused by mechanical problems and had nothing to do with the presidential visit.

"It has nothing to do with the visit and, anyway, the line is back to normal," he said on Sunday. (45)