I'm fit to travel to Brunei: Gus Dur

I'm fit to travel to Brunei: Gus Dur

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Saturday he
was fit enough to travel and would go ahead with plans to visit
Brunei on Sunday and East Timor on Tuesday.

The President was instructed to rest on Thursday after
catching a fever, later diagnosed as influenza.

But Abdurrahman, described by friends as a workaholic, will
depart to Brunei on Sunday morning for a one-day working visit to
meet Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

Except for Brunei, Abdurrahman has visited all the other eight
fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

In his visit to East Timor, Abdurrahman intends to meet Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, Baucau Bishop Basilio do Nascimento,
and the head the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor
(UNTAET) Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Abdurrahman did not mention the name of Dili Bishop Carlos
Felipe Ximenes Belo once during his briefing with journalists.

The President said the topics of discussion would include the
kind of assistance Indonesia can extend to help East Timor
establish its own state.

The visit will be a landmark as it is the highest level visit
since East Timor rejected Indonesia's wide-ranging autonomy offer
in the Aug. 30 ballot.

Abdurrahman also said he wanted to discuss with Xanana and de
Mello ways to improve cooperation at the border between East
Timor and East Nusa Tenggara to ease the mobility of people
crossing it.

While in Dili, Abdurrahman is scheduled to open an Indonesian
interest section office.

"Because, according to de Mello, the East Timorese would like
to buy food and trade with their Indonesian counterparts. I want
to facilitate this," the President remarked.

Abdurrahman also confirmed he had decided to delay a scheduled
visit to Australia next month because his agenda was already too
full.

A visit to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the coming days has also
been canceled.

Abdurrahman said the neighboring country was in domestic
turmoil and therefore would not be in a position to welcome a
foreign dignitary.

"This is their statement. We just believe what they said,"
Abdurrahman remarked.

Meanwhile, AFP reported on Saturday that Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad would make a two-day bilateral visit to
Indonesia on March 9.

"This visit is going to be a full complement visit, consisting
of various people from ministries as well as the private sector,"
Malaysian foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar was quoted as saying
in Kuala Lumpur. (prb)