Jakarta – Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Mr Alwi Shihab, has said President Abdurrahman Wahid will probably postpone a working trip to Australia next month, ministry officials and reports said yesterday.

The Antara news agency quoted Mr Shihab as saying in Seoul that Mr Wahid's planned meeting with Australian leaders, already delayed several times, would not take place next month.

"I think Gus Dur's [Mr Wahid's popular name] trip which had been planned for this coming November will not take place," Antara quoted Mr Shihab saying on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe heads of state meeting in South Korea. A Foreign Ministry official in Jakarta confirmed that Mr Shihab had made the statement but did not elaborate.

However, Mr Shihab said he, the Trade Minister, Mr Luhut Panjaitan, and the Chief Economic Minister, Mr Rizal Ramli, would visit Australia on November 25 and 26 in an effort to strengthen trade ties between Jakarta and Canberra.

Ties between the two countries nosedived last year after Australia led an international peacekeeping force to East Timor after the United Nations-conducted ballot on self-determination.

The Indonesian parliament earlier this month vetoed Mr Wahid's trip to Australia next month, saying Indonesians were pained by Australia's constant criticism of their country.

Mr Wahid later said he accepted the parliament's view, and agreed to await results of a study on "whether their [the Australian] attitude has changed or not". "If there are no changes, we will follow what has been suggested," he added.

Australia for years was among the few countries in the world to recognise Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor, which was incorporated into the Indonesian archipelago in 1976 without UN recognition.