Mega delays returning home from Mecca
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was scheduled to arrive home on Sunday after performing a minor pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, has delayed returning to Jakarta until Monday for personal reasons, a presidential palace official said.
The official said on Sunday that there was no specific reason for the delayed return, except that the President wanted to stay a bit longer in Jeddah.
"There is no plan for a meeting with King Fahd on the President's agenda, but she will stay longer in Jeddah and is slated to arrive back in Jakarta on Monday morning," the official told The Jakarta Post.
Megawati, accompanied by her husband, Taufik Kiemas, and other family members, left for Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on a minor pilgrimage, or umrah, on Thursday evening and originally planned to return home at around 11:20 a.m. on Sunday.
The presidential entourage stayed at the king's guest house during the trip.
Earlier reports from Jeddah said King Fahd was keen to have talks with Megawati to discuss Islamic and Arab issues, including the possible deployment of troops to Iraq from Muslim countries.
However, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly denied this, saying that the trip was a personal one by Megawati to perform a minor pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia has proposed sending troops to Iraq to replace United States-led multinational forces in the war-torn country.
Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal reportedly said that troops should be sent only at Baghdad's request and work under the auspices of the United Nations.
Indonesia, which strongly opposes the Iraq invasion by the U.S., has shown no interest in sending security personnel to Iraq, saying that a peacekeeping force should be sent there only when peace was restored in the war-wracked country.
The world's most populous Muslim country also said that Indonesian troops should be sent to Iraq as part of a UN "blue helmet" peacekeeping force.
Megawati and the entourage are slated to land on Monday at 6 a.m. at the Halim Perdanakusumah air base in East Jakarta.
Upon her arrival, the President is scheduled to meet various state guests at the Palace, including visiting Miss Universe 2004 Jennifer Hawkins.
She is also slated to hold a meeting with National Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais some time next week to discuss possible cooperation ahead of the presidential election run-off on Sept. 20.
Megawati, who came second in the first round of the presidential election, is facing a tough battle against her former chief security minister, front-runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in the second round of the presidential race.