UK foreign minister to visit Indonesia

UK foreign minister to visit Indonesia

JAKARTA, (JP): British Foreign Minister responsible for Asian
and Middle East issues Ben Bradshaw will visit Indonesia from
Aug. 26 to 28, the British Embassy announced here on Thursday.

The embassy said in its press statement that Bradshaw would be
the first British official to make such a visit to Indonesia
since President Megawati Soekarnoputri took office last month.

It said that the visit further underlined Britain's support
for democratic and economic reforms in Indonesia.

In the absence of Megawati, who is on a whirlwind tour of
Southeast Asian countries, Bradshaw will meet a number of
ministers before traveling to Bali, where he will hold talks with
Regional Military Commander William da Costa and the governor of
Bali.

He will then travel to East Timor, which will hold an election
next Thursday.

The Bali-based Regional Military Command oversees security in
West Timor and formerly also oversaw East Timor, which is now
under United Nations administration.