Israeli's Knesset speaker to meet House chief Akbar
JAKARTA (JP): House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung has accepted a request for a separate meeting with his Israeli Knesset counterpart Avraham Burg on the sidelines of the 104th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference here later this month.
Akbar said on Thursday the request had been extended by an Israeli liaison officer.
"I cannot turn it (the request) down because Israel is a member of the IPU," Akbar told The Jakarta Post.
Israeli Knesset members will be among the largest delegations to attend the annual event, to be hosted by Indonesia for the first time from Oct. 15 to Oct. 21, according to Akbar.
Russia will send the biggest delegation with 30.
Indonesia, due to its persistent support for Palestine's independence struggle, has no diplomatic ties with Israel. However, leaders of the two countries have held informal talks several times over the past decade.
President Abdurrahman Wahid met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak during the United Nations Millennium Summit in New York last month. Earlier in August, Abdurrahman held talks on the Middle East peace process with Israeli envoy Shimon Peres here on the eve of the arrival of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
In 1992 then Israeli prime minister Yithzak Rabin made an unannounced visit here to meet with President Soeharto, soon after the latter was elected as the Non-Aligned Movement chairman. The two met again for a 30-minute talk on the sidelines of the UN's golden anniversary celebration in New York in October 1995.
Akbar said preparations are well underway for the IPU conference, including security arrangements.
"There have been some questions from the delegations about security concerns. I told them not to worry about it," Akbar said.
He added he had been informed by the National Police chief that 2,800 police would be in place for the international conference. The number will be raised to 8,000 in a state of emergency.
Jakarta has been rocked by a series of bomb blasts over the last two months, with the last bombing targeting the Jakarta Stock Exchange building on Sept. 13 and claiming 11 lives.
Akbar said some 2,000 parliamentarians from 108 countries have confirmed their participation in the conference, 50 of them are parliament speakers.
Also expected to come are delegations of IPU's associate members, namely the Andean Parliament, Central American Parliament, European Parliament, Latin American Parliament and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Palestine and a group of international and inter-parliamentary organizations, including the UN, Amnesty International, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have been invited as observers.
President Abdurrahman will open the conference at the House building. All sessions will be held at the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center. (jun/mds/amd)