I can still play golf: Soeharto

JAKARTA (Agencies): A smiling President Soeharto told reporters accompanying him for a stroll through the grounds of the cardiac hospital in the German town of Bad Oeynhausen yesterday that he can still play golf, his favorite sport.

"I can still play 9 holes. My handicap is 12," he said, quickly translated into German by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J Habibie who accompanied the President on his medical checkup in the town, some 70 kilometer west of Hannover.

The German press agency DPA quoted cardiac specialist Reiner Koerfer who examined Soeharto yesterday as rejecting speculation that the statesman might be seriously ill. "This man is healthier than many people think," Koerfer said.

Professor Koerfer heads a team of German specialists giving President Soeharto a checkup at the cardiac treatment center. The President arrived Monday while his check up began yesterday.

"The President was being given exactly the same examination as any other patient: ECG (electrocardiogram), laboratory tests and an ultrasonic examination," Koerfer said.

He said Soeharto had sought a cardiac checkup at Bad Oeynhausen because his wife had died of heart disease. Siti Hartinah Soeharto died in April at the age of 72.

According to Dr. Koerfer, Bad Oeynhausen is the "biggest heart center in the world". The spa town has clinics that specialize in rehabilitating people with a history of heart disease.

Soeharto left Indonesia on Sunday accompanied by four of his children, including Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, who told the press that the President's medical examination would take three to four days. She also called on Indonesians to pray for her father's health.

Habibie, who is a close adviser to Soeharto, underwent open- heart by-pass surgery in the same German spa town in 1991.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono also stated here in Jakarta that the medical checkup will last for only three days and that the team of doctors consists of both German and Indonesian cardiologists.

One of the Indonesian doctors, Budiman, also said that Soeharto is in good health. "There's nothing to worry about," Budiman said.

Habibie said that President Soeharto plans to rest until Saturday and will fly home on Sunday. "By Tuesday next week, he will have started working again," Habibie said.

"What the doctors have been doing is giving him a general examination," Habibie said. "There's no operation as many people think."

"For someone his age, it's normal for President Soeharto to have periodical medical checkups in order to maintain his condition," Habibie said.

Habibie said that a medical checkup had been conducted by local doctors here, but that some further tests abroad were also needed.

Siti Hardiyanti told state television station TVRI that the President was merely seeking a second opinion.

Meanwhile, the number of people who wished the President well was increasing. Yesterday, ulemas in Aceh called on Moslems in the province and other regions to say prayers for Soeharto's good also made the same call yesterday.

"Pak Harto is our leader. So as Moslems and good citizens, we should pray together and ask God to grant him health," said Sofyan Hamzah, the imam of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh.

This was the second call made by religious leaders. On Monday, leaders of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization in East Java had also called on Moslems to pray for Soeharto; so did the influential leader of the 30-million member organization, Abdurrahman Wahid. (06)