U.S. government awaits Megawati's visit

JAKARTA (JP): The United States government has invited President Megawati Soekarnoputri to go ahead with her planned visit at the invitation of President George W. Bush.

In a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday, the U.S. Embassy reaffirmed that the visit would go ahead as scheduled.

"Following close consultation between the Indonesian and American governments, we are pleased to reaffirm that the visit of President Megawati will take place as planned, including her Sept. 19 meeting with President George W. Bush," the embassy said.

However, the Indonesian government has yet to formally respond to the statement.

It is also not clear whether the President will continue on to Japan as originally planned. However, a source told the Post that the visit would go ahead.

An official at the foreign ministry told the Post that foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda had received formal notification on Megawati's trip from U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Gelbard on Thursday evening.

"But the formal announcement on the government's response to the U.S. statement will be given after the Cabinet meeting on Friday," the official said.

Megawati was scheduled to leave for the U.S. on Sept. 17 and for Japan on Sept. 26, but the plan was put on hold when terrorist attacks occurred in New York and Washington on Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has suspended a planned one-week trip through Southeast Asia in order to deal with the tragedy in the United States, the foreign ministry said on Thursday as quoted by Associated Press.

Koizumi was scheduled to visit Indonesia as part of his Southeast Asia tour on Sept. 16, the first visit to Southeast Asia since he took office in April.

A ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Koizumi had to deal with the attacks in the United States, including ascertaining the whereabouts of 22 missing Japanese.

However, State Secretary/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo said that the government had yet to receive official notification of Koizumi's cancellation.

"I have only received informal notification from the minister of foreign affairs. We have yet to receive official notification," Bambang said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also canceled a planned trip to Europe following the attacks in the U.S.

Earlier, foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda said the government would wait for confirmation within the next two days concerning Megawati's trip.

He further revealed that Eric Samadikun Hartono was the only confirmed Indonesian fatality of the terrorist attack, saying other Indonesians working at the World Trade Center were reportedly safe.

Hassan also reiterated Indonesia's commitment to fighting cross-border terrorism, and that the country was willing to share information on terrorism activities and in improving intelligence abilities in dealing with the issue. (dja)