Syahrir heads climbing club

JAKARTA (JP): The commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), Maj. Gen. Syahrir M.S., was elected as the head of the Indonesian Climbing Federation (FPTI) for the 1999-2002 term, replacing F. Hendricus Mutter, in a national meeting on Sunday.

Syahrir received 14 out of 20 votes on the last day of the two-day meeting here, while Hendricus got four and two voters abstained, Antara reported.

Syahrir's nomination was given full support by the chairman of National Sports Council (KONI), Wismoyo Arismunandar, who himself was Kopassus chief from 1983 to 1985.

"I will try to make climbing a competitive sport in the PON (National Sports Week) in 2000 in Surabaya, and will discuss the preparations with the KONI chairman in the near future, because we only have six months left," the two-star general said.

He also pledged to produce world-class climbers. "We plan to build another climbing school either in Aceh or Irian Jaya." he said. "Nepal is a small country but they are famous for their climbers."

Indonesia has several climbing schools, such as the Skygers Climbing School in West Java. (ivy)