Diaspora talks upset Timorese<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A group of East Timorese pro-integration leaders
\nwarned yesterday that a meeting of exiled East Timorese in
\nPortugal could endanger the future of a UN-sponsored forum to
\nbridge the opposing camps in the integration debate.<\/p>\n
Participants of the East Timorese National Convention in
\nDiaspora, as the meeting in Lisbon is called, \"are destroying the
\nspirit of reconciliation and endangering the continuity of the
\nAll-Inclusive East Timor Dialog (AIETD) forum itself\", the
\nleaders said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The convention, it said, was a political forum aimed at
\nundermining the efforts of the United Nations to find a just,
\ncomprehensive and internationally acceptable solution.<\/p>\n
\"We express serious doubt about the continued validity of the
\nAIETD forum,\" it said.<\/p>\n
The April 23 to April 27 meeting, sponsored by the Portuguese
\ngovernment, has brought together East Timorese leaders in exile
\nopposed to the territory's integration with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Many of them have participated in the AIETD, which has
\nconvened on at least two occasions in Austria as part of the
\nprocess organized by the UN to help find a settlement to the
\nquestion of East Timor's sovereignty.<\/p>\n
The UN also has been coordinating a parallel tripartite dialog
\ninvolving the foreign ministers of Indonesia and Portugal, which
\nruled East Timor until 1975, to settle the issue.<\/p>\n
The prointegration figures, led by senior politician F.X.
\nLopes Da Cruz, criticized the Portuguese government for
\nsupporting the East Timorese in exile, whom they said constituted
\na minority group among East Timorese.<\/p>\n
They also appealed to the UN secretary general to bring up the
\nmatter of the Lisbon meeting at the next tripartite dialog
\nmeeting as a priority issue for discussion.<\/p>\n
They recalled that the secretary general had specifically
\nasked that participants of the AIETD refrain from engaging in
\nactivities that could disrupt efforts to create an atmosphere
\nconducive to dialog. (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/diaspora-talks-upset-timorese-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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