Habibie brushes off meeting with Gus Dur

JAKARTA (JP): B.J. Habibie, chairman of the politically well- connected Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), brushed aside suggestions yesterday that he meet with Abdurrahman Wahid of the Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest rural-based Moslem organization.

Habibie told reporters covering the ICMI congress yesterday that he had never thought of holding talks, which some people would consider a much needed reconciliation, with Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur.

"There is no reason for me to hold such a meeting," Habibie said. "Personally, I've never had any problems with Gus Dur."

The suggested meeting, he said, was irrelevant to his various positions, whether as the state minister of research and technology, an activist of social organizations or his other work.

"This is not a question of whether I am willing or not. It's just there's no reason for me to do it. So, it's not important," he said.

The call that Habibie meet with Abdurrahman, who is known to be very critical of ICMI, came on the heels of the latter's recent meetings with, consecutively, President Soeharto, Army Chief of Staff Gen. R. Hartono, and finally with Amien Rais, the chairman of the 28-million strong Muhammadiyah Moslem organization.

Observers have welcomed the meetings, calling them a sign of even better ties between the government and NU, and between Islamic organizations long thought to be on less than friendly terms.

NU claims to have a nationwide membership of over 30 million.

In Semarang, Abdurrahman rejected the need for a "reconciliation" meeting. "We're never distant, so why reconcile?" he queried.

He admitted, however, that he has never had any contact with Habibie. "You can't gauge people's proximity or distance by whether there is contact," he said. "Besides, if I've never had any contact with Habibie it's because I'm just a commoner while he's a cabinet minister."

He also denied suggestions that his meeting with Amien Rais, who is known to have a close relationship with Habibie, was contrived to solicit his support for the nomination of Habibie as vice president in 1998.

"During our meeting (Sunday), Amien did not once mention anything about ICMI. We didn't say anything about the vice presidency or Habibie," Abdurrahman said. (swe/har)