I can still play golf: Soeharto

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)