Downer hails RI's East Timor policy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Visiting Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
\nDowner said here on Thursday that the positions of Indonesia and
\nAustralia on the future of East Timor were \"very close.\"<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists after meeting with President B.J.
\nHabibie at the Merdeka Palace, Downer said he was assured by the
\nPresident that Indonesia would not abandon East Timor in an
\nirresponsible way as Portugal had done in 1975.<\/p>\n
\"I was very heartened with the approach of the President. I
\nthink now that the positions of Australia and Indonesia on this
\nissue are very close,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
During the one-hour meeting with Downer, Habibie was
\naccompanied by Minister of Defense\/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander
\nGen. Wiranto. Secretary of Development Operations (Sesdalopbang)
\nLt. Gen. (ret) Sintong Panjaitan and the director general for
\npolitical affairs at the foreign affairs ministry, Nugroho
\nWisnumurti.<\/p>\n
This was Habibie's first meeting with a senior Australian
\nminister since he received Australian Prime Minister John
\nHoward's letter in December.<\/p>\n
According to Habibie's aides, Howard's letter, in which he
\nadvised the President to take measures to resolve the East Timor
\nproblems, became a major factor behind his drastic decision to
\ngrant the territory separation under certain conditions.<\/p>\n
The President has since January reiterated his plan to let
\nEast Timor go if the people and the international community
\nreject his wide-ranging autonomy proposal for the tiny province.<\/p>\n
Habibie, according to Downer, assured him Indonesia would not
\njust walk out on East Timor. Instead, it would manage in a
\nresponsible manner a transition either to autonomy or to
\nindependence, taking into consideration the livelihood of the
\nEast Timorese people.<\/p>\n
\"He has thought very carefully about the steps ahead,\" Downer
\nsaid of Habibie.<\/p>\n
Downer, however, warned the East Timorese of a possible
\nrepetition of the \"very sorry history\" of the former Portuguese
\ncolony.<\/p>\n
\"What we very much hope is that the process of reconciliation
\namong the East Timorese, coupled with their capacity to make
\ntheir own decisions regarding their own destiny, will help to
\nbind their wounds,\" Downer said.<\/p>\n
Habibie reiterated his administration's stance that Australia
\nwould help the East Timorese whatever political choice they
\narrive at about their future.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Habibie did not express any expectations about
\nAustralia's role in East Timor. It is up to Australia if it wants
\nto give assistance,\" Nugroho said.<\/p>\n
Late Thursday afternoon Downer visited jailed East Timorese
\nseparatist leader Jose Alexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao at his special
\ndetention house in Central Jakarta. The two held a 70-minute
\ndiscussion.<\/p>\n
\"We had a very successful discussion, and I am certainly very
\nimpressed by the commitment of Xanana Gusmao to the first and
\nmost important process in East Timor, reconciliation,\" Downer
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Later in the evening, Downer met with Amien Rais, chairman of
\nthe National Mandate Party (PAN), and Megawati Soekarnoputri, the
\nchairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan).<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, AFP reported that two leaders of pro-Indonesian
\nEast Timorese militia groups on Thursday have sent a blunt
\nwarning to Australian diplomats and journalists that their lives
\nwere at risk.<\/p>\n
\"It is better to sacrifice an Australian diplomat or
\njournalist to save the lives of 850,000 East Timorese,\" said the
\nwarning, faxed to several foreign news agencies including the AFP
\noffice here.<\/p>\n
The one-page fax was signed by Cancio Lopes de Carvalho and
\nEurico Guterres, who identified themselves respectively as the
\npro-integration commanders of the Mahidi and Aitarak paramilitary
\ngroups. (prb\/byg)<\/p>",
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