East Timor talks end on a subdued note<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Highly anticipated peace talks between rival
\nfactions from troubled East Timor ended on a subdued note on
\nWednesday, less than two months before a UN-sponsored ballot to
\ndetermine the province's future.<\/p>\n
\"Despite a good atmosphere around the negotiating table, deep
\ndivisions remain (between proindependence and pro-Jakarta
\nsupporters,\" Father Domingos Sequeira, spokesman for the church-
\norganized three-day Dare II dialog and reconciliation talks, said
\nin a media statement.<\/p>\n
\"On the last day of talks, delegates from prointegration and
\nproindependence groups refined a statement of the basic ideas
\nthey can agree on, but could find little common ground on
\n(establishing) a joint committee for the implementation of these
\nideas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Although both sides agreed on the crucial necessity for
\nfurther dialog, they were unable to produce a procedure to carry
\nthe Dare II talks forward.\"<\/p>\n
He said the most significant achievement of the conference,
\nheld at the Sheraton Bandara Hotel, was an agreement in principle
\nto respect the June 18 agreement on the disarmament of pro-
\nJakarta militias and Falintil, the armed wing of the East Timor
\nResistance Council, the main proindependence body.<\/p>\n
The June 18 agreement was organized by the Peace and Stability
\nCommission. It was set up following a military brokered peace
\ndeal in East Timor's capital of Dili on April 21.<\/p>\n
The statement also said both factions agreed to respect the
\noutcome of the UN administered popular consultation.<\/p>\n
\"Given the attendance at the conference of an unprecedented
\narray of top political and military leaders from both sides, this
\nis a considerable achievement.\"<\/p>\n
Among the 60 representatives at the conference were jailed
\nleader Jose Alexandre 'Xanana' Gusmao, Nobel co-laureate Ramos-
\nHorta and pro-Jakarta counterparts Lopez da Cruz and Domingos
\nSoares.<\/p>\n
Towards the end of the morning session, Baucau Bishop Basilio
\ndo Nascimento, who with Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo
\norganized the meeting, expressed his \"hunger\" for real substance
\nto the talks, the statement said.<\/p>\n
\"This appeal produced a suggestion that a joint commission be
\nformed to secure the interests of both sides before and after the
\npopular consultation.\" However, the delegates decided \"the idea
\nneeded further consideration and should be left open\".<\/p>\n
The statement said a suggestion from proindependence delegates
\nthat Xanana be released from detention to participate in
\ncampaigning for the popular consultation did not gain approval.
\nXanana is serving a 20-year term for armed rebellion and was
\ngranted special permission by the government to take part in the
\nmeeting.<\/p>\n
Xanana had expressed confidence that the growth of democracy
\nin Indonesia would lead to his release, the statement said.<\/p>\n
It added that prointegration delegates continued to press the
\nargument that \"wide-ranging autonomy within the Republic of
\nIndonesia is already a concession (and) should be matched by
\nflexibility on the part of pro-independence leaders\".<\/p>\n
Prointegration delegates, the statement said, also pressed for
\na greater assurance of neutrality from the United Nations Mission
\nin East Timor (UNAMET).<\/p>\n
Jamsheed Marker, the UN secretary-general's special envoy on
\nEast Timor, told a news conference earlier in the morning that he
\nrejected \"totally, completely and absolutely\" the allegations of
\nUNAMET bias.<\/p>\n
\"The UN is an impartial organization -- we have men and women
\nfrom all over the world and they have come here out of their
\ndedication for this particular assignment,\" Marker said.<\/p>\n
About 600 UNAMET personnel and 300 UN civilian police will be
\ndeployed to supervise the August ballot.<\/p>\n
\"They're all volunteers, nobody has been dragged to this
\nagainst their will ... so I totally reject this, I do not think
\nthe Indonesian government has made the allegation.\" He said there
\nwere a number of irresponsible allegations about UNAMET's role.<\/p>\n
Both factions declared in a final document from the meeting,
\nread in Indonesian and Portuguese, their determination \"to
\nestablish a platform of common positions with the purpose of
\nfinding a durable solution to the question of Timor Lorosae\".<\/p>\n
The document was signed by the participants, Belo, Basilio and
\nUN representative Tamrat Samuel.<\/p>\n
Observers of Wednesday's talks included the head of the
\ncountry's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama,
\nAbdurrahman Wahid, and Lt. Gen. Soegiono, the Armed Forces chief
\nof general affairs.(byg\/33)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-timor-talks-end-on-a-subdued-note-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}