Indonesia to send relief aid for Afghans

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla is scheduled to leave here for Peshawar, Pakistan, on Saturday to hand over Indonesian relief aid worth Rp 1.5 billion (US$150,000) to Afghan refugees.

The relief aid comprises wheat, cooking oil and medicines, including antibiotics and analgesic drugs, some of which were donated by pharmaceuticals company PT Kalbe Farma.

Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said on Friday that the government would also include five paramedics in Kalla's entourage to assess the condition of the refugees before sending a team of physicians, including surgeons.

Kalla's entourage will also include the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) co-chairman, Amidhan, and head of the House of Representatives' Commission VI on people's welfare, Taufikurrahman Saleh.

Kalla affirmed that the relief aid was not an attempt on the government's part to subdue the anti-U.S. sentiment that arose in the wake of the U.S. military attacks on Afghanistan, but had been planned before the demonstrations started in the country. -- JP