President Deplores Online News Reporting of Wikileaks Report

Jakarta (Antara) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed regret over the publication by an online news site of a WikiLeaks report about rupiah printing in Australia implicating him and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri. President Yudhoyono said at a press conference at his private residence in Cikeas, Bogor, West Java, here on Thursday that he deeply regretted the news site's decision to publish without obtaining necessary clarifications on the issue. With regard to the current Idul Fitri festival, President Yudhoyono said that he had kept monitoring the flow of Idul Fitri holidaymakers in the country since last week involving around 30 million people and had also been monitoring the return trip of holidaymakers. "My task as a president is to monitor security and service, as 30 million people were journeying across the country to celebrate the event," he said. He pointed out that he had also communicated with national police chief General Sutarman who was currently inspecting security and efficiency of traffic operations in southern Java. He said in principle the heavy traffic had been managed well and no untoward incidents had happened. (*) Reported by Panca Hari Prabowo