Indonesia unwilling to be controlled by the West: Gus Dur

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (JP): President Abdurrahman said on Thursday that Jakarta remained committed to an independent foreign policy and was unwilling to prostrate to the West.

Speaking in Iran to the Indonesian community in Tehran, Abdurrahman said that his meeting with Iranian President Mohammed Khatami earlier in the day and his presence at the South Summit in Havana, Cuba, in April were a clear message to the West, particularly the United States, that Jakarta could not be controlled.

"Several months ago, a high-ranking officer from the U.S. State Department came to Jakarta and asked me not to participate in the South Summit in Havana and also warned me not to visit Tehran, Tripoli, Baghdad and Pyongyang".

"I don't give a fuss about it and in fact, I visited the Havana Summit because as a country we have to be in the environment of developing countries," Abdurrahman said.

Abdurrahman's statement came just three days after he met United States President Bill Clinton in Washington D.C.

He said that in the past, the government was too submissive and there had been an impression that it could be dictated to.

"It could not be like that anymore, but of course we can't be too direct and we have to convey it in a diplomatic way," the President said.

To further attest his words, Abdurrahman revealed that Khatami, Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi and Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf would be among 12 Muslim leaders invited to a celebration of Prophet Muhammad's birthday in Jakarta on June 22.

"This is to show other parties that we can not be dictated to," he remarked.

Speaking to journalists on a flight from Tehran to Islamabad on Friday morning, Abdurrahman said that Qaddafi wanted to give a speech during the commemoration.

"Qaddafi was initially scheduled to speak for 15 minutes, but he said it is not enough, so we will give him 30 minutes and he said that it is still not enough," the President said.

He also revealed that he plans to visit Iraq during his next overseas trip to Palestine, Syria, Turkey and Bangladesh this summer.

Commenting on Minister of Mines and Energy Lt. Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's appointment as the government representative in negotiations with former president Soeharto's family, to possibly arrange the return of some of the money from Soeharto's seven foundations, Abdurrahman said the minister was chosen because he was deemed "a good negotiator".

Abdurrahman is scheduled to meet with Musharraf on Friday evening and then leave for Bahrain on Saturday morning. (byg)