President, Bruneis Crown Prince Hope for Better Bilateral Ties

Jakarta (Antara) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono received visiting Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah of Brunei Darussalam, flanked by Crown Prince Pangiran Anak Sarah, at the Merdeka Palace here on Monday. "We hope this visit would be a blessing for the two nations and the relations between Brunei and Indonesia would further improve," President Yudhoyono said, while opening the meeting. Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee arrived at the palace at around 11.45pm and met the President for about 30 minutes. On the occasion, he said that the relations between the two countries have been very good and hoped that they could be further increase in the future. Brunei's Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah received an honorary commander brevet from the Indonesian army's Kopassus special forces here on Saturday. The brevet was awarded by general commander of Kopassus, Major General Agus Sutomo, flanked by deputy minister of defense Sjafrie Sjamsoedin, during a military ceremony at the Kopassus headquarters in Cijantung, East Jakarta. In his speech, Maj Gen Sutomo said the cooperation between Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia has grown strong, as is common among the ASEAN member countries and close neighbors.(*)