It looks as if that decree to dissolve Indonesia's legislature is off. President Abdurrahman Wahid said so himself. "I never said I would issue a decree. That has just been cooked up by the media," he said after Friday prayers last week.

Was it all cooked up by the press? Well, no. Navy chief of staff Admiral Indroko S. heard such talk. "Possibly he indeed did say that when he was meeting with the commander and the chiefs of staff of the forces some