Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The presidential office yesterday denied that the US$300,000 sent to President Abdurrahman Wahid while he was on an overseas trip in Saudi Arabia was obtained improperly, saying it had come from its own coffers.

"We ran out of money because we had anticipated that our expenses would be paid for by the government of Saudi Arabia, as in past visits to other rich Middle East countries," said Mr Wahyu Muryadi, head of the presidential palace's protocol office.

But as it turned out, the Saudi government only covered the expenses of 35 of the 85-member entourage during the five-day pilgrimage tour in the country.

They included President Abdurrahman Wahid and his family, his doctors and secret service personnel and a couple of MPs travelling with them.

Said Mr Wahyu: "Consequently, the peak haj season makes everything much more expensive, and the reason we had to ask Garuda to fly the cash over to us was to get the money quick."

A letter circulating since Monday among parliamentarians and student activists who are critical of the President revealed that the presidential office had asked national airline Garuda Indonesia to send US$300,000 to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where the entourage ended its two-week trip to Africa and the Middle East.

Legislators yesterday called for an audit into the presidential treasury to see if there were any irregularities.

The transfer of funds is the latest controversy to hit the President, who is under mounting pressure to resign over his alleged role in two financial scandals.

But the whole incident might have been just a case of poor planning and an under-financed trip.

The 11 journalists travelling with the entourage said they had not been informed about the exorbitant expense of US$3,000 per person for the trip until the night before they left Sudan for Jeddah on February 28.

"We knew that we didn't have that much cash on us, so we decided to return to Jakarta, but palace officials wouldn't let us because that would have created a PR crisis," said one journalist. "Finally, they told us to pay US$700 while they would find a way to cover the rest."

But certain observers are speculating that officials at the presidential secretariat office might have been trying to mark up the stipulated expenses for personal gain. The journalists said they never got any receipt for the money they gave to the officials.

Last month, the Supreme Audit Board said the presidential secretariat had misused 58 per cent of funds it received from the state.