Wahid visit to Australia back on, for now

President Wahid has postponed four trips to Australia so far

By CNN's Grant Holloway and wire services

CANBERRA, Australia -- Embattled Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has made fresh plans to visit Australia, despite looming impeachment proceedings and political turmoil in Jakarta.

The visit, scheduled to begin in the Australian capital of Canberra on June 24, is the fifth time the president has announced his intention to come to Australia, none of which has eventuated because of domestic troubles in Indonesia or frayed relations with Australia.

Wahid, who has visited 50 countries since taking office in October 1999, will be the first post-independence Indonesian leader to make the trip across the Timor Sea to the island continent since former president Suharto came to Australia in the mid-1970s.

Irian Jaya likely to be on the agenda

IN-DEPTH TIMOR A legacy of torment  U.N. forces and police are gearing up for an increase in violence ahead of the August 30 elections in East Timor

Despite tense relations between the two countries in recent times because of Australia's involvement in the former Indonesian province of East Timor following an independence vote there in 1999, Australian prime minister John Howard has maintained an open invitation for Wahid to visit.

Australia and Indonesia have since the early 1990s established close economic, political and military ties and have a mutual interest in maintaining political stability in the immediate region.

One of the issues likely to be discussed, should the visit proceed, is the situation in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, which forms the western half of the island of New Guinea immediately to Australia's north.

Many indigenous Melanesians in Irian Jaya, also known as West Papua, are fighting for independence from Indonesia, which assumed control of the region in 1969. Australia has, however, expressed strong support for the region remaining part of Indonesia.

Impeachment hearings begin August

The situation in East Timor, which faces a preliminary independence vote on August 30, will also be on the agenda, as will recent ethnic violence in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.

Australian companies have considerable interests in joint venture resource projects in Kalimantan.

Wahid will also visit New Zealand and the Philippines as part of this latest overseas sojourn.

Impeachment hearings against Wahid, Indonesia's first democratically elected leader, are set to begin on August 1.

The president has faced criticism for spending too much time abroad on trips that have made him Indonesia's most travelled president instead of dealing with the country's myriad woes.

Reuters contributed to this report.