Soeharto in New York for UN anniversary
Soeharto in New York for UN anniversary
By Rikza Abdullah
NEW YORK (JP): President Soeharto arrived here Friday night to
attend this week's celebrations of the United Nations' 50th
anniversary, and to meet with a number of world leaders.
Although no longer the leader of the 113-nation Non-Aligned
Movement, Soeharto is expected to pursue diplomatic avenues to
find a settlement to the Middle East conflict, a close aide said.
He is scheduled to meet with a top leader in the Middle East
dispute on Sunday, according to the aide, who refused to give the
leader's name.
The meeting will be held at the Waldorf Towers hotel, where
President Soeharto is staying for the next seven days.
Soeharto met Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam last
week at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Cartagena, Colombia.
Syria is also a key player in the Middle East conflict.
Khaddam sought Indonesia's support in Syria's struggle to
regain land from Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who is also scheduled to
attend the UN's golden anniversary celebrations, made a quick
unannounced visit to Jakarta in 1992, to meet with the President,
just after Soeharto was elected NAM chairman.
Indonesia has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has
supported the Arabs and Palestinians in the Middle East.
Officials said that for three days beginning Sunday, President
Soeharto is expected to meet with at least 12 leaders on the
sidelines of the three-day special commemorative meeting of the
UN's General Assembly.
Among the foreign leaders Soeharto will meet are Canadian
Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Sri Lankan President Chandrika
Bandanaraike Kumaratunga, Liberian President Wilton S. Sankawulo,
Polish Prime Minister Yoweri Museveni, Tajikistan President
Emomali S. Rahmanov, Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev, Thai
Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-Archa, Dutch Prime Minister W. Kok,
Acting President of Macedonia Stojan Andov and Rumanian President
Ion Iliescu.
On Oct. 26, Soeharto will make the short hop to Washington,
and will meet U.S. President Bill Clinton in the White House the
following day, the official said.
Also today, President Soeharto will preside over a meeting of
the Non-Aligned Movement's caucus at the United Nations General
Council. The Indonesian leader is scheduled to address the UN
Assembly on Monday afternoon.
He will present a statement on population stabilization to UN
Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the Trusteeship
Council Chamber, on Wednesday Oct. 25, the day the world body
celebrates its 50th anniversary.
The UN Information Center in Jakarta said that the statement,
signed by 75 heads of government, is a pledge to balance
population growth and resources.
Those signing the statement represent 3.9 billion people, or
68 percent of the world's population.
They maintain that achieving population stabilization is a
"world-wide necessity" and that the time has come "for each
country to adopt the necessary policies and programs to do so,
consistent with its own culture and aspirations."
A comparable statement was initiated in 1966 by John D.
Rockefeller III of the United States and was presented to the UN
Secretary General U Thant on Human Rights Day. At that time, 12
heads of government signed the statement.
In 1985, a revised statement on population stabilization
signed by 40 heads of government was presented by the late Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India on the 40th anniversary of the
United Nations.
The current statement was initiated by the Population
Communication organization, in collaboration with the Global
Committee of Parliamentarians on Population and Development and
with the Population Institute.