Habibie, Mahathir meet to improve bilateral ties

Habibie, Mahathir meet to improve bilateral ties

BATAM, Riau (JP): President B.J. Habibie and Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad met here on Thursday to exchange
information on the latest developments in their respective
countries.

The two leaders said they had cleared up border disputes and
some other bilateral issues, which were described by Mahathir as
"minor bilateral problems".

"There were some problems about logging and trading at the
border and about border crossings. These have been cleared up,"
Mahathir said in joint press conference with Habibie after their
90-minute summit at Nongsa Point Marina Hotel.

During the meeting, Habibie was accompanied by Coordinating
Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Ginandjar
Kartasasmita, Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian
Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto, Minister of Foreign
Affairs Ali Alatas, Minister of Industry and Trade Rahardi
Ramelan and Minister of Justice Muladi.

Mahathir was accompanied by Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar
and Minister of International Trade Rafidah Azizah.

"As a result of this meeting, we are all aware of the latest
developments in our respective countries," Mahathir said.

Habibie said he had agreed with Mahathir to boost bilateral
ties in economic, cultural and social affairs and to work
together to upgrade industries and human resources.

"It is easy for Malaysia and Indonesia to work together
because of the compatibility of our cultures," he said.

Although unwilling to specify all the "minor bilateral
problems", Mahathir made special reference to logging problems in
Kalimantan.

Last month, Habibie revoked Presidential Decree No. 44/1994,
which gave the Maju Kerja Foundation sole logging rights in the
"security belt" along the border with Malaysia in East and West
Kalimantan.

The foundation, which has close links to the military,
controlled over 834,500 hectares of forest in West Kalimantan and
265,000 hectares of forest in East Kalimantan.

Neither leader was willing to say whether the issue of illegal
Indonesian immigrants in Malaysia came up for discussion. About
one million Indonesians are now thought to working in Malaysia,
mainly in plantations and the construction industry.

Earlier this year, Mahathir complained that in the first three
months of 1999, the number of illegal immigrants crossing into
Malaysia from Indonesia was almost the same as in the whole of
1998. He promised to raise the matter with Habibie.

"The meeting was arranged to keep us close together, provide
an update of each other's problems, identify solutions to these
problems, and encourage greater cooperation in the fields of
economics and culture," Mahathir said.

Anwar

Indonesian officials said the main purpose of the meeting was
to improve the two leaders' personal relations, which took a turn
for the worse after Habibie expressed concern over the arrest of
former Malaysian finance minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Mahathir openly expressed irritation at Habibie's support for
Anwar, who was last month found guilty of corruption and
sentenced to six years in jail.

In October, Habibie and Philippines President Joseph Estrada
met in Batam and jointly urged Mahathir to provide Anwar with
better treatment. Habibie also received Anwar's eldest daughter
Nurul Izzah before the meeting with Estrada.

"The President realizes that Mahathir may have been hurt by
his show of support for Anwar and he wants to improve their
personal relations," said a senior Habibie aide, who spoke on
condition of anonymity.

Habibie telephoned Mahathir last month to arrange a meeting in
Kuala Lumpur, but the venue was later switched to Batam.

The meeting went ahead on the condition that Habibie would
promise not monopolize the discussions, as Mahathir suggested he
had been prone to do while minister of research and technology.

"If we meet for two hours then we must share the time fairly,"
an official quoted Mahathir as telling the President during a
telephone conversation. (prb)