Sutiyoso to depart for Athens

JAKARTA: City Governor Sutiyoso is scheduled to leave the city on Monday for a week's visit to Athens, Greece and to Madrid, Spain, a reliable source said here on Sunday.

The source said Sutiyoso had actually sought a permit from the Ministry of Home Affairs for a two-week visit to the European cities, but the ministry gave permission for only one week.

Sutiyoso had planned to depart for Athens on Saturday, but his departure was adjourned as he had to open an exhibition on regional autonomy in the Monas (National Monument) park on Saturday.

The purpose of the governor's visit to the two cities was still unclear.

Sutiyoso made his last foreign trip to Pusan, South Korea in April, this year, when he received an honorary doctorate from Pusan University.

Recently a number of city councillors also made a controversial foreign trip to the U.S., Japan and China. The visit, the purpose of which, they claimed, was to carry out comparative studies, was apparently for pleasure, as most of their time was spent visiting tourism sites in the three countries. -- JP