President's mother-in-law laid to rest

President's mother-in-law laid to rest

President Megawati Soekarnoputri's mother-in-law Hamzatoen
Roefdza Kiemas died on Tuesday morning at the age of 84 after
being treated in the hospital for some time.

Suffering from old age, the former freedom fighter had
repeatedly been admitted to the hospital in recent months. She
passed away at 6:15 a.m.

Megawati and visiting Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
paid their respects early in the morning, before continuing with
their schedule of visiting the Bogor Presidential Palace.

Later in the afternoon the President returned to Jakarta to
attend the burial ceremony at the Kalibata Heroes cemetery.

Hundreds of noted figures in the country, especially from
Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), were also present at the funeral.

Almost all of the Cabinet ministers also turned out to offer
condolences.

The late Hamzatoen was active within the Murba Party during
the 1945-1949 independence struggle, along with other figures
such as the former vice president Adam Malik.

Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas is the eldest of 10 children
of the couple of Hamzatoen and Tjik Agus Kiemas, who was granted
the Mahaputera medal posthumously by Megawati last year in
conjunction with the country's independence anniversary.

Hamzatoen represented her husband during the medal
presentation at the Presidential Palace.

The mourning period should not affect Megawati's duties as she
is slated to leave for Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to attend the
Organization of the Islamic Conference Summit, a presidential
staffer said.