Indonesian Governor Forced to Surrender Metallica Guitar 'Gift'

Indonesian Governor Forced to Surrender Metallica Guitar'Gift' -

A guitar that had been given as a gift to governor of Jakarta byMetallica's Robert Trujillo hasbeen seized by Indonesian anti-corruption officials.

Joko Widodo appeared only last week on Indonesian TV strummingthe maroon Ibanez bass guitar which had been signed by Trujillo andbore the words "Giving Back!.. Keep Playin' That Cool FunkyBass!"

However the Corruption Eradication Commission took the guitar aspart of an investigation into whether any favours were exchanged aspart of the 'gift' being received.

"We will check if there is any conflict of interest or ifthere was an exchange of favours," says Corruption EradicationCommission spokesman Johan Budi. "The screening process takesup to 30 days, and after that we will decide whether to return theguitar to him or confiscate it."

"The governor loves rock music," offers a spokesman onbehalf of Widodo.

"So he was certainly happy to receive it, it's like getting atennis racket from Boris Becker. To him, it was a souvenir andthere was no exchange for favours."

Corruption remains rampant in Indonesia, particularly amongpublic  servants, and the country last year slid to 118th of176 countries in Transparency International's annual graftindex.