Recovering Gus Dur set for next trip

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid, who has the flu, cannot wait for doctors to give him the all-clear for Sunday, when he expects to resume his grueling schedule with an overseas trip to Brunei.

The presidential medical team advised the 59-year-old President to take a rest until Saturday after he was diagnosed with influenza on Thursday, forcing him to cancel a planned two- day visit to Central Java.

Speaking at a public discussion after praying at Baiturrahim Mosque inside the palace compound on Friday, Abdurrahman, popularly known as Gus Dur, said he would go ahead with his meeting with Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in Bandar Seri Begawan.

"Insya Allah (God willing), I will go to Brunei on Sunday, because I have made an appointment with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah," Abdurrahman said of his one-day visit.

While regretting being forced to cancel his weekend program, the President complained that he had to follow his doctors' advice to rest.

"Frankly speaking, they (doctors) disrupted many of my activities, yesterday and today," Abdurrahman said.

As usual, he told many jokes during the discussion, including on the presence of noted columnist Mohamad Sobary from the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI), who moderated the regular program.

"You may wonder why Pak Sobary was willing to host this dialog. He came here not because he wanted to see me, but simply because he wanted to escape his office," Abdurrahman said, to the laughter of the audience.

When Ahmad Biden from Cirebon, West Java, emotionally told Abdurrahman he would leave the country in protest of the government's plan to raise electricity rates and fuel prices, the President simply replied: "Any citizens who are not satisfied with conditions here can exercise their right to find a new country."

Abdurrahman said he was very enthusiastic about visiting Brunei, the only Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) country he has yet to visit since becoming President. The sultan's tight schedule prevented Abdurrahman from visiting Brunei in November last year.

ASEAN groups Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Abdurrahman last met with the sultan on Jan. 15 when they attended the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Bangkok.

Separately, foreign minister Alwi Shihab said at a news briefing that President Abdurrahman was scheduled to fly to East Timor on Tuesday to open an Indonesia interest section office in Dili.

It will be the first visit of an Indonesian president to the country's former province since it voted for independence in the August 1999 ballot.

"I just met Gus Dur this morning and there is no plan to cancel the trip to East Timor," Alwi said, adding that the President was in good health.

The President was originally also scheduled to visit Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Monday. It has been postponed at PNG's request.

Alwi also revealed the that the President would visit Cuba, Utah in the United States, Hong Kong and South Africa in April. April 12 and April 14 and will have his eyes checked in Utah afterward," Alwi said.

In Hong Kong the President is scheduled to meet with local businessmen, while in South Africa he will meet with the country's leaders and former president Nelson Mandela.

In the media briefing, Alwi denied news reports that Abdurrahman also planned an official visit to Israel, although he did not rule out the possibility of the President going on a pilgrimage to Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem or visiting the Shimon Perez foundation, of which Abdurrahman is a member.

"The President still does not have a plan to visit Israel," Alwi noted.

Commenting on the President's plan to visit Portugal, Alwi said Abdurrahman might go there in September. "But we are still discussing with the Portuguese president when, before September, he will visit Jakarta," Alwi said. (dja/prb)