Japanese legislators in town en route to East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): Five Japanese legislators from the Social Democratic and Liberal Democratic parties are currently in town to meet with their Indonesian counterparts and government officials en route to East Timor.

The legislators, accompanied by three Japanese journalists, arrived yesterday and are scheduled to meet with House members and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas today, the ministry's spokesman, Irawan Abidin, told The Jakarta Post.

He said they would be leaving for Denpasar, Bali, tomorrow where they will meet with Chief of the Udayana Military Command Maj. Gen. Adang Ruchiatna Puradiredja before proceeding to Dili, East Timor.

The Udayana command also oversees the security of East Timor.

"The local authorities have drawn up their itinerary," Irawan said, adding that the delegation will fly back to Tokyo from Denpasar on Saturday.

The group had submitted its request to visit East Timor since May.

A staff member at the Japanese embassy said yesterday that this is not the first time that Japanese legislators visited Indonesia, who usually make their trips during the summer.

"We have asked the Indonesian government to settle the schedule of their activities while they are in East Timor as they are particularly interested in observing the economic developments in that region," he said.

Sources say the group was planning to meet with leaders of several non-governmental organizations last night at the Sahid Jaya Hotel where they stayed.(pwn)