Israeli's Knesset speaker to meet House chief Akbar
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)