Gus Dur to attend Belo's Noble prize presentation

JAKARTA (JP): A prominent Moslem leader is to accompany the East Timor bishop to Oslo to attend the 1996 Noble Peace Prize presentation ceremony.

Abdurrahman Wahid, affectionately called Gus Dur, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that he had been invited by the Nobel Prize Committee about a week ago.

"I take it as an honor," Gus Dur said of his impending trip to the Norwegian capital with Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo.

The bishop is expected in Oslo on Dec. 10 to receive the peace prize he shares with East Timor separatist leader Ramos Horta.

The leader of the 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama said it was the first time he has received an invitation from the Nobel committee.

Sources told the Post that the committee has also invited some other prominent Indonesian public figures, including Catholic priest Y.B. Mangunwijaya.

"I have no idea who else has received an invitation, but I feel honored to receive one and I intend to go and fulfill the invitation," said Gus Dur.

Asked whether he is worried about a possible public protest against his trip Gus Dur said: "Never mind. Let's them do that. I won't be bothered."

Belo is under fire these days for his remarks in the German magazine Der Spiegel's October edition, in which he reportedly said that Indonesian soldiers treated East Timorese like "scabby dogs" and "slaves".

About 2,000 demonstrators from a youth wing of the Golkar faction launched a protest early this month. The Attorney General's Office has expressed its intention to summon Belo to give an explanation about his interview with the magazine.

Members of the House of Representatives are also considering asking the bishop to have a hearing with them.

Belo is scheduled to give an explanation about his remarks in the East Timor capital of Dili tomorrow.

Gus Dur said Thursday that the Belo issue has been blown out of proportion, mostly by Moslem groups. A few others, he said, came from members of the Armed Forces but they are mostly parroting what others had said.

Gus Dur's Oslo trip is likely to spur further protests but he insisted that the invitation has nothing to do with the controversial issue or his political role in the country.

He also said that he had told several senior government officials about the invitation.

"They all are surprised," he said, adding that they neither discouraged nor encouraged him to go, "we'll just wait and see."

Asked what he will do if the government does not let him go, Gus Dur said: "This is my government. I'll obey what it says. It's simple for me." (swa)