Kohl to strengthen ties with RI

JAKARTA (JP): German Chancellor Helmut Kohl is due to arrive here on Saturday for a four-day visit aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

Minister/State secretary Moerdiono said Kohl's entourage will comprise about 100 people including the minister of economics; the minister of education; the minister of education, science and technology; the minister of post and telecommunication; business people and journalists.

"The main purpose of the visit is to strengthen the already- good bilateral relation, especially in economics and trade," Moerdiono told reporters.

The German government has demonstrated the importance it places on Kohl's visit by sending such a large number of prominent business people, he said.

The agenda which begins Oct. 28. includes Soeharto-Kohl talks, signing a memorandum of agreement on shipping and a visit to the national heroes cemetery in Kalibata, South Jakarta.

From the Halim Perdana Kusuma airport, Kohl will be taken by helicopter to Bira Island in Jakarta Bay, where he will meet President Soeharto later that evening.

The state dinner will be held at the Jakarta Convention Center instead of the state palace due to the large number of delegates.

AFP reported that German members of parliament called on the chancellor to raise the issue of human rights in Indonesia during talks with President Soeharto.

Junior foreign minister Helmut Schaefer said the human rights record in Indonesia, which has been the subject of talks between Bonn and Jakarta since 1993, was unsatisfactory.

Andreas Krautscheid, a member of Kohl's Christian Democrat Union, described the situation in East Timor, as "unacceptable", but hailed the chancellor's intention to raise the matter in his talks with President Soeharto.

The Greens and the social democrats repeated calls for a ban on German arms exports to Indonesia.

Kohl will visit the Philippines and Japan on his Asian tour. (pan)