East Timor dialog ends with nod to diverse views<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (JP): A two-day meeting on reconciliation
\nbetween East Timor's political figures ended late on Friday with
\na joint statement signed at the site of the dialog in Dare, West
\nDili.<\/p>\n
One of the 11 points in the communique signed at 9 p.m.
\nacknowledged the right to differences of opinion and that \"there
\nshould be no domination of one party over another.\"<\/p>\n
The drafting of the 11-point communique got stuck for a few
\nhours on whether to insert \"self-determination\" as a separate
\npoint. It was finally decided that the term was already included
\nin another point on \"referendum and autonomy.\"<\/p>\n
The talks which began on Thursday were initiated by Dili
\nBishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Baucau Bishop Basilio do
\nNascimento and were attended by 50 local public figures.<\/p>\n
The bishops said they had been asked by the local government
\nto initiate the dialog to defuse mounting tension between those
\nfor and against integration with Indonesia in the province in
\nrecent weeks.<\/p>\n
Legislature speaker Armindo Soares Mariano, East Timor
\nMilitary chief Col. Tono Suratman, local police chief Col. Timbul
\nSilaen, Dili Mayor Mateus Maia and Dili regent Domingos Maria Das
\nDores Soares were among the participants.<\/p>\n
Another point in the communique said participants acknowledged
\ntwo views regarding East Timor -- those favoring an autonomous
\nstatus and those favoring a referendum on self-determination.<\/p>\n
In view of this reality \"further efforts were needed to
\nrealize a common platform to unite the people of Timor Loro Sae,\"
\nthe local term for East Timor. A common platform should then be
\nfollowed up by \"the establishment of a representative forum\" for
\nall East Timorese, the communique said.<\/p>\n
One suggestion was that similar meetings in the future should
\ninvolve representatives of all political and social groups,
\nincluding resistance leaders in jail, outside the country and in
\nthe province's jungles. The Sept. 10 to Sept. 11 meeting did not
\ninvite representatives from the above groups.<\/p>\n
Another point was that all participants welcomed and supported
\nthe role of the local Church in mediating in future dialogs and
\nthat participants showed the political will to organize further
\ntalks in the effort to find common ground between the divided
\nparties.<\/p>\n
Organizers included Dili's Foundation for Law, Human Rights
\nand Justice (HAK) and representatives from Fretilin, the main
\nEast Timorese separatist party, and the UDT, a minority political
\nparty in the province.<\/p>\n
People outside the packed meeting room clapped when the
\ncommunique was read out in Indonesian, Portuguese and English.<\/p>\n
After the dialog ended, Belo told the press that participants
\nhad been able to talk \"without the slightest pressure and had
\nspoken from the depths of their hearts without being emotional.\"<\/p>\n
Troops<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the Armed Forces (ABRI), in a statement made
\navailable to The Jakarta Post on Friday, denied allegations that
\nit had replaced combat troops withdrawn from the troubled
\nprovince in July.<\/p>\n
A non-governmental organization, Solidamor (Solidarity for
\nPeace in East Timor), had earlier been quoted by Antara as saying
\nthat the much publicized beginning of ABRI's withdrawal of up to
\n1,000 combat troops had been followed up with the drafting in of
\nreplacements.<\/p>\n
Solidamor also sent the press a paper written by the jailed
\nresistance leader Xanana Gusmao which it said was read out at a
\nrecent seminar on East Timor held in New Zealand. Xanana said the
\ntroop reinforcements had \"landed at secret army jetties at
\nViqueque, Com and Carabelo, near Vemasse.\"<\/p>\n
ABRI's statement said \"there are no additional troops in East
\nTimor\", except for task forces including those for health and
\n\"mental guidance.\"<\/p>\n
The statement also denied allegations that ABRI had added
\n\"wild troops\" such as the Saka, Makikit and the Alpha teams.
\nThese teams, ABRI said, were part of the local People's Militia
\n(Wanra), a civilian component of state defense and security. \"It
\nis not true that the People's Militia are wild troops whose
\nactivities serve to disrupt society.\"<\/p>\n
ABRI's presence in East Timor, it said, was not as a result of
\nself-interest or to maintain East Timor as a training ground and
\na stepping stone for career promotion, rather it was \"based on
\nthe fact that there are still armed rebels whose activities
\ndisrupt public and state security and must therefore be
\neradicated.\" (33\/anr)<\/p>",
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