Australia to release East Timor documents<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Australia will release secret government
\ndocuments concerning its policy toward East Timor and Indonesia
\nduring a crucial two-year period in the 1970s, Australia's
\nForeign Minister Alexander Downer said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The announcement came after reports on Australia's monitoring
\nof Indonesia's role in the former Portuguese colony, appeared in
\nAustralian newspapers on Friday, Reuters reported from Sydney.<\/p>\n
Downer said all documents covering the period from 1974 to
\n1976 would be released.<\/p>\n
\"I am going to release all the documents because I think that
\nit's only fair that there be an open debate about them,\" Downer
\ntold Channel Nine television.<\/p>\n
Downer said the time frame covered in the documents were those
\n\"from the Portuguese revolution up until the final completion of
\nthe incorporation of East Timor into Indonesia\".<\/p>\n
Downer recently visited Indonesia, East Timor and Lisbon and
\nheld talks with, among others, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali
\nAlatas and East Timorese resistance leader Jose Alexandre
\n\"Xanana\" Gusmao.<\/p>\n
Antara reported on Sunday the launch of a book at Xanana's
\nspecial detention house in Central Jakarta, the latest in a
\nseries of publications about East Timor since Soeharto stepped
\ndown in May.<\/p>\n
The book titled Xanana Gusmao: Timor Leste Merdeka Indonesia
\nBebas (Xanana Gusmao: Independent Timor Leste, Indonesia Free)
\nwas edited by activist Tri Agus Siswowihardjo, a former fellow
\ninmate at Cipinang penitentiary. The author is a member of
\nSolidamor, a nongovernmental group with a special interest in
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
\"There are critics and there are those with supportive
\n(attitudes), but I am glad that Indonesians are realizing that
\nthe East Timor issue is of enormous importance,\" Xanana said.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Xanana had a historic meeting with prointegration
\nleaders, reportedly the first with a proindependence leader in 23
\nyears. Held on neutral ground at the Ministry of Justice, the
\nmeeting with the Forum for Unity, Democracy and Justice for East
\nTimor was facilitated by the National Commission on Human Rights.<\/p>\n
Forum president Dominggus Dos Dores Soares called for the
\nrelease of Xanana, president of The National Resistance Council
\nfor an Independent East Timor, (CNRT), saying his presence was
\nvital for settlement of the province's future.<\/p>\n
From Portugal's capital, Lisbon, Antara reported that the
\ncountry's Muslim figures have expressed support for the East
\nTimorese and hope that it's people will choose to remain within
\nthe Republic of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Achmad Ghulam, deputy leader of the Muslim community in
\nPortugal, said it would be better for East Timorese to accept the
\nwide-ranging autonomy package offered by the Indonesian
\ngovernment. (aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australia-to-release-east-timor-documents-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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