OBAMA'S AGENDA IN JAKARTA UNCHANGED : PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN

Jakarta, March 15 (ANTARA) - US President Barack Obama's agenda during his visit to Indonesia will be unchanged although the schedule of the visit has been altered, presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal said here on Monday.

He said President Obama might stay only one or two days in Jakarta from initially three days.

"The agenda of President Obama during the visit which may be for one or two days has not changed. So the agenda remains although it might be adjusted here and there. The program remains the same," he said.

Obama was initially scheduled to arrive in Indonesia on March 20, 2010 and stay for three days including a visit to Bali along with his wife and daughters.

But, according to Dino, due to the dynamic political situation in Washington DC with regard to Obama's health care overhaul which has not yet been successful the US government decided to postpone and shorten his visit to Indonesia and Australia.

Although Obama had received inputs calling him to just cancel the visit, Dino said, Obama who spent several years of his chilhood in Jakarta had insisted on sticking to the agenda which he considered important.

Dino admitted he had not received a formal notice regarding the exact date of Obama's arrival from the White House but foreign minister Marty Natalegawa had assured that Obama would arrive on March 23, 2010 in Jakarta without his wife and daughters.

Regarding the planned visit to Bali he said it remained an alternative.

Dino said Obama's main agenda while in Jakarta is visiting the Heroes' Cemetery in Kalibata, meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and attending a state dinner in his honor.

Apart from that, he said, Obama would also give a speech before various elements of the society and institutions in Indonesia.

The speech event would be organized by the state University of Indonesia and the National Defense Institute, according to Dino, following the format used when Obama gave his speech in Cairo University in Egypt.

After that, Dino said, Obama is scheduled to hold a dialogue with business community in the country.

Due to changes until now however it was not yet known where the two events outside the state events would be held.

Dino asserted that the postponement was not done because of rejection of his visit by some Islamic clerics. He said Obama has made it clear his commitment to building better communications and cooperation with the Islamic world and in view of that Indonesia would welcome him with good will.