Indonesia wants friendly solution to Sudan crisis

Indonesia wants friendly solution to Sudan crisis

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said here yesterday Indonesia
wishes to see a stable Sudan and expressed the hope that
differences with its neighbors could be solved in a friendly
atmosphere.

The President, when receiving the credentials of the new
Sudanese Ambassador to Indonesia, Hassan Ibrahim Gad El Karim,
said: "All countries should respect each other and not intervene
in other countries' internal affairs."

Soeharto said that although Indonesia was busy with various
development programs, "we always follow the events around us
including those in Africa."

Sudan is in dispute with Ethiopia and Eritrea after they gave
support to Sudanese rebels.

President Soeharto also accepted the credentials of the new
Bangladeshi Ambassador to Indonesia, Zia-Us-Shams-Chowdhury
yesterday.

To Chowdhury, the President said that Indonesia and Bangladesh
needed to improve bilateral cooperation, particularly through the
two countries' private sectors.

"In regional forums, (Bangladeshi's) hopes to promote
cooperation between the regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia
are not only interesting, but have actually developed into an
inevitable trend in the globalization era." (swe)