CONSTRUCTIVE VISIT BY PRINCE CHARLES HIGHLIGHTS

UNCLAS JAKARTA 002071 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, EAP/MTS, EUR/WE NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KISL SENV ID UK SUBJECT: CONSTRUCTIVE VISIT BY PRINCE CHARLES HIGHLIGHTS INTERFAITH DIALOGUE, ENVIRONMENT ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: In a five-day visit to Indonesia, Prince Charles highlighted the importance of interfaith dialogue, the environment and education. The visit was focused and constructive, and well-received by Indonesians. END SUMMARY. A ROYAL VISIT ¶2. (U) Prince Charles visited Indonesia November 1-5 at the conclusion of an Asia tour that included stops in Brunei and Japan. In Jakarta, the Prince met President Yudhoyono, Vice President Kalla and a wide range of other Indonesian leaders. He also visited Yogyakarta in central Java to hobnob with fellow royal Sultan Sri Hamengkubwono X (who is also a presidential candidate),and other Javanese aristocrats. (Note: The Duchess of Cornwall, who had accompanied Charles on his other Asian stops, did not join the Prince in Indonesia.) INTERFAITH DIALOGUE ¶3. (U) During the trip, Prince Charles highlighted the importance of continued dialogue between the West and the Islamic world. In Jakarta, the Prince held a roundtable with Muslim leaders, including Din Syamsuddin, Chair of the mass-Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, and other noted Muslim scholars. The Prince also visited Indonesia's national mosque in central Jakarta. ¶4. (U) In remarks at an Islamic school, the Prince praised Indonesia's ethnic diversity and tradition of religious tolerance. Prince Charles also pressed interfaith dialogue in the educational realm. On behalf of HMG, the Prince announced a cooperation agreement between Oxford University's Center for Islamic Studies and the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University. THE ENVIRONMENT ¶5. (U) The Prince also highlighted environmental issues--especially deforestation--in numerous meetings and events. At President Yudhoyono's invitation, the Prince delivered a Presidential Lecture on the environment before an audience of Cabinet ministers, senior officials and other Indonesian notables. Linking interfaith cooperation and conservation, the Prince's speech discussed Quranic passages that called on mankind to protect God's creation. ¶6. (U) Also on the environmental front, the Prince called for the creation of an international agency to issue bonds to fund forest conservation and other environmental projects. British Embassy contacts subsequently told us this proposal was the Prince's personal initiative and did not necessarily reflect HMG policy. The Prince also visited a rain forest protection project sponsored, in part, by HMG in Jambi Province, Sumatra. A SUCCESSFUL VISIT ¶7. (U) The visit was a success, sticking to a constructive message on interfaith dialogue, the environment and education. This was the Prince's first visit to Indonesia since 1989 when he visited with Princess Diana. Prince Andrew visited earlier this year in a trip focused more on trade and investment. HUME