RAAF jets fly to Wahid's rescue

Wahid leaves behind what observers say is a growing rift between him and his deputy, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri

By CNN's Grant Holloway and wires services

DARWIN, Australia -- Australian air force jets have been sent to collect Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid who is stranded in the far northern Australian town of Darwin after his plane developed engine troubles.

Three Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Falcon jets are on the way to pick up the president and his entourage and fly them to the Australian capital of Canberra, a defense department spokesman told CNN.

The Indonesian military plane carrying Wahid was forced to land at a RAAF base in Darwin at about 6am (Australian eastern standard time) because of a mechanical problem with one of the jet's four engines.

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President Wahid is expected to arrive in Canberra at around 5pm where he will be given a full ceremonial welcome.

He will then attend a formal reception and dinner hosted by Australia's head of state Governor-General William Deane.

After a series of meetings in Canberra Tuesday morning, the president will then continue his four-day trip by travelling to Australia's biggest city, Sydney, in the afternoon.

Wahid's trip is the first visit to Australia by an Indonesian president in 26 years.

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Monday the visit was important and would consolidate the bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia.

"The meeting between the president of Indonesia in Australia with our prime minister for the first time in a quarter of a century is, I think, a very strong statement of how the relationship now stands," he said.

The transport woes are the latest in a long list of obstacles on the path to Wahid's visit -- a trip which has been cancelled five times previously.

Relations between Jakarta and Canberra almost collapsed two years ago when Australian forces led an international peacekeeping force sent in to quell mob violence in East Timor following the territory's landmark vote in favor of independence from Indonesia.

Chance to start afresh

Many nationalist Indonesian politicians saw the Australian move as giving backing to groups seeking to carve out separate homelands in Indonesia and a number of anti-Australian protests were help in Jakarta.

Critics accuse the president of ignoring the country's domestic problems

However Australia sees this trip as a chance for the two nations to start afresh.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard told media Sunday he hoped the visit would "represent to some degree a ruling off on some of the more difficult phases of our realtionship."

Howard said those difficulties were understandable given the situation in East Timor.

Wahid is going ahead with the visit despite plans by opposition lawmakers to begin impeachment proceedings against him on August 1.

The ageing president has been fighting hard in recent weeks to fend off moves by critics who accuse him of incompetence and involvement in two cases of corruption.

They say they will vote him out of office and replace him with Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno.

Wahid, Indonesia's first democratically elected president, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and vowed to stay in power until his term ends in 2004.

Emergency powers

He has threatened to ignore the impeachment hearing and has warned that he could invoke emergency powers to dissolve parliament and call snap elections.

Observers say that raises the prospect of a dangerous constitutional standoff and the possibility of military intervention.

One of the main criticisms leveled against Wahid is his frequent absence from the country given the number of overseas trips he makes.

Since taking office less than 20 months ago he has visited more than 50 countries and is Indonesia's most widely traveled president.

Last year he sparked outrage among politicians and the media after suggesting he should acquire his own version of the U.S. president's personal aircraft, Air Force One.

Coming on the heels of reports that the president had entered into negotiations with U.S. aircraft maker Boeing to acquire an executive version of its 737 jet, critics hit out at Wahid saying the country could not afford such lavish projects when many Indonesians were struggling to make ends meet.

Opponents say that by traveling abroad so often Wahid is overlooking pressing domestic problems such as mounting ethnic violence and the country's failing economy.

Reuters contributed to this report.