Pakpahan told reporters at a hospital where he is being treated that he held a meeting on Tuesday with Stanley Roth, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Roth was in Jakarta along with presidential envoy Walter Mondale, who told Suharto on Tuesday that implementing reforms prescribed by the International Monetary Fund was the only way out of Indonesia's deepening economic crisis. Mondale, a former vice president, did not say if he had raised concerns Washington has about the political situation in Indonesia. But Pakpahan said Roth had told him Washington had demanded that he be released, that his illegal SBSI labour union be recognised and his trial on subversion charges be held speedily. He also faces charges of subversion in connection with riots in Jakarta in July 1996 which erupted in the aftermath of the government-sponsored ouster of opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri from the leadership of the minority Indonesian Democratic Party.
Subversion carries the death penalty in Indonesia.
Pakpahan also said he had requested the permission of the government to be allowed to travel overseas for the removal of a tumour in his lung. He added that if permission was refused he would have to return to his prison cell by the end of the month. The government has so far refused to allow him to leave the country, saying his illness was not fatal. On Wednesday, Pakpahan looked weary but walked unaided from his room to a hospital cafeteria to address reporters. Pakpahan also demanded that minimum wages be raised to cover the sharp increases in prices.