Belo rejects plan to replace Australia as Interfet leader<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo rejected
\non Sunday a plan to replace Australia's leadership in the UN-
\nmandated International Force in East Timor (Interfet) with
\nMalaysia, considering the neighboring country's poor human rights
\nrecord and its close ties with Indonesia, Antara reported on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
\"Malaysia still has problems with (former economic minister)
\nAnwar Ibrahim. It is much better if Interfet is led by Australia,
\nBritain or France,\" Belo was quoted by Portuguese Radio and
\nTelevision as saying.<\/p>\n
Belo, who just returned to East Timor after fleeing abroad
\nduring the violence which followed the Aug. 30 referendum on
\nself-determination there, said Malaysia was a close ally of
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Portuguese political observer Nuno Rocha, who is also
\npresident of the Asia-Portugal Association, disagreed with Belo's
\nviews.<\/p>\n
\"It is not wise for East Timorese figures like Belo to attack
\nthe position of Malaysia and other ASEAN members,\" Rocha said.<\/p>\n
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
\nis a regional grouping which has successfully developed the
\nspirit of togetherness among Southeast Asian nations based on
\nmutual socioeconomic and cultural interests, he said.<\/p>\n
\"One of the keys for a territory which aspires to be
\nindependent is how to win as much support as possible and not
\ntrigger new hostilities,\" Rocha said.<\/p>\n
The people of East Timor cannot ignore the fact that Indonesia
\nhas done much for their benefit, he said.<\/p>\n
The Asian-phobia phenomenon also has affected the Australian
\ngovernment, which now feels as if it is exiled, Rocha said.<\/p>\n
\"Now it is more obvious that Australia views East Timor as a
\nterritory which can be used to fulfill its ambitions toward
\nAsia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, more and more East Timorese figures have been
\ntrapped in this vague interest and have allowed themselves to be
\nplunged into Australia and its Western allies' play, Rocha said.<\/p>\n
Separately, the news agency also reported that East Timorese
\nrefugees were still flooding into the neighboring province of
\nEast Nusa Tenggara, entering through Atambua regency.<\/p>\n
\"We are preparing another camp in Saenoni village to
\naccommodate those who have taken shelter in churches and local
\nresidents' houses,\" East Nusa Tenggara regency administration
\nsecretary Wilhelmus Wolo said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Wolo said so far none of the East Timorese refugees in the
\nthree existing camps wanted to return to their homes in Ambeno.<\/p>\n
\"They said that their villages were still dangerous to live
\nin, although an international force has arrived in Dili,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 32,000 East Timorese refugee families who refused
\nto return to their homes will be sent to new settlements in
\nneighboring West and East Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan and Sulawesi,
\na staff member at the Ministry of Transmigration said.<\/p>\n
\"The East Timorese refugees are free to live wherever they
\nwant,\" Suleman said in Palu, Central Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
In a related development, Australian Minister of Foreign
\nAffairs Alexander Downer began a two-day visit to Thailand on
\nMonday amid a climate of strained relations between the two
\ncountries over the handling of the East Timor crisis.<\/p>\n
Downer said in a statement he would discuss East Timor with
\nThai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and other government officials
\nbefore going to Singapore on Wednesday for the East Asian
\nEconomic Summit.<\/p>\n
Relations between Australia and many Southeast Asian nations
\ncame under pressure last month after Canberra took the principal
\nrole in organizing and leading Interfet to quell the violence in
\nEast Timor. (edt\/imn)<\/p>",
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