Mega considers visit to Australia

JAKARTA: Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said that the government was looking into the right time for President Megawati Soekarnoputri to visit Australia.

He said the President intended to visit the neighboring country, but was still trying to match her schedule with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

However, a high-ranking official at the presidential office told The Jakarta Post Megawati had no plans to leave for Canberra in the near future.

"The President will make a trip to Japan and Pakistan in December, and there has been no discussion to include Australia in her schedule," the official said.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has visited Indonesia several times to show his goodwill to repair strained relations between the two countries after the East Timor mayhem in 1999.

Abdurrahman Wahid was the last Indonesian president to visit Australia, when he met Howard in 2001, just a few months before his dismissal.--JP