Solo Trip

Indonesia's fallen President Suharto, his family and former aides visited the grave of the former President's wife at a family mausoleum ...

Indonesia8217;s fallen President Suharto, his family and former aides visited the grave of the former President8217;s wife at a family mausoleum in Solo, a Central Java town, witnesses said. Protestors who had dogged the veteran leader8217;s visit were absent from the area. Accompanying the Suhartos were ex-armed forces commander Benny Murdani, former army chiefs of staff Hartono and Wismoyo Arismunandar, noted Moslem scholar Quraish Shihab, and business tycoons Probosutejo and Sudwikatmono.

Shihab, who was religion minister before Suharto resigned in May, led an almost six-hour long religious ritual commemorating the 1,000th day since the death of Siti Hartinah Suharto, better known as Madam Tien8217;. Only photojournalists were allowed to enter the mausoleum after a stand-off between journalists and plainclothes security guards.

The veteran leader8217;s visit to his wife8217;s hometown to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday has been greeted by scattered protests. Some 100 residents and students demonstrated near the Kalitanpalace, the mansion of Madam Tien8217;s family, shortly after Suharto and his family arrived. The protestors were demanding that Suharto apologise for his past mistakes and that he be brought to trial, the state Antara news agency said.

Tien died of a heart attack in April 1997. Since resigning as President on May 21 last year, Suharto has spent most of his time at his residence in Jakarta. Despite widespread calls for his house arrest while he is being investigated for alleged corruption, collusion and nepotism during his 32-year rule, the Government of his succesor and protege B.J. Habibie has made no move to restrict his movements.

New trick

United States evangelist and sometime presidential candidate Pat Robertson is to join troubled retailer Laura Ashley as a non-executive director, the Financial Times reported. It said Robertson, who owns two million shares in the London-listed group, would try to help resolve years of difficulties in Laura Ashley, which has an internationally known name ingarments, accessories and home furnishings.

The group announced another set of poor figures and the departure of chief executive Victoria Egan. She is being replaced by Kwan Cheong Ng, managing director of Metrojaya, the retailing arm of Malaysian conglomerate Malayan United Industries, which acquired a 40 per cent stake in Laura Ashley last year. Ng becomes the eight chief executive since the group floated on the London stock exchange in 1985.

Osama sightings

Alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden made a rare public appearance this week, joining mass prayers with the head of the Taliban Militia in the Afghan city of Kandahar, a newspaper reported on Friday. The Saudi dissident, who is wanted by the United States on charges of terrorism, attended a special congregation for the Eid al-Fitr festival led by Taliban Chief Mullah Mohammad Omar in Kandahar, The News daily said. Eid was celebrated in Afghanistan on Monday.

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The Taliban Islamic militia, which has its base in Kandahar, has turned downUS demands to expel bin Laden, who took asylum in Afghanistan in 1995. The Saudi dissident has been indicted in the United States for allegedly masterminding last year8217;s bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people. The United States, which launched cruise missile attacks in August on bin Laden8217;s alleged training bases in Afghanistan, has offered a reward of 5 million for his arrest.

NO AUDIENCE

Just 43.5 million Americans watched President Bill Clinton8217;s State of the Union address, down from 51.3 million who tuned in, in 1998 just after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, Daily Variety reported. 8220;It8217;s another indication of the public8217;s weariness with the Lewinsky scandal,8221; said Daily Variety, which cited a Nielson survey on ratings for the Tuesday speech. The number of viewers peaked last year, and this year returned to the 41 to 42 million who watched in 1995 to 1997.

Clinton8217;s first State of the Union address attracted an unprecedented 66.9 viewers in1993. The six networks playing the President8217;s address attracted just 48 per cent of television watchers at that time. The rest opted to watch something else.