East Timor talks posponed due to the UN reshuffle<\/p>\n
LISBON (Reuter): Talks between Portugal and Indonesia about
\nEast Timor, set for December 21 in New York, have been postponed,
\na foreign ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The delay was proposed by the United Nations (UN), which is
\nseeking to broker an accord over the territory, because of its
\nleadership changes. Ghanaian Kofi Annan will be formally
\nappointed Secretary-General on Tuesday replacing Egypt's Boutros
\nBoutros-Ghali.<\/p>\n
Lisbon, the former colonial ruler in Timor, readily agreed to
\nthe delay because \"there were few prospects for any visible
\nresults\" from the talks, the spokeswoman told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Portugal and Indonesia have been meeting periodically under
\nthe auspices of the U.N. about the future of the territory.<\/p>\n
East Timor integrated into Indonesia in 1976 but the U.N.
\nstill considers Lisbon the administering power there.<\/p>\n
Relations between Lisbon and Jakarta have sunk to new lows
\nfollowing the award two months ago of the 1996 Nobel Peace prize
\nto East Timor Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo
\nand anti-integration leader Jose Ramos Horta.<\/p>\n
The decision to award Jose Ramos Horta upset Jakarta which
\nbelieved it could complicate the search for an accord with
\nLisbon.<\/p>\n
The foreign ministry spokeswoman said Portugal would propose
\nthat the next round of talks, for which a date has not been set,
\nbe preceded by preliminary meetings between the two countries'
\nambassadors to the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Portugal backs the call of anti-integration movements for the
\npeople of the territory to be allowed to decide their own future.<\/p>\n
But Jakarta says that a vote was taken back in 1976 and the
\nterritory opted to become part of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Officials at the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry in
\nJakarta could not be reached for comment yesterday.<\/p>\n
The most recent meeting, the eighth, between Indonesian and
\nPortuguese foreign ministers under the auspices of the United
\nNations Secretary-General took place in Geneva in June with
\nlittle headway in resolving the dispute. The seventh round of
\ntalks were held in London in January.<\/p>\n
Alatas admitted in June that progress had been slow, although
\ndetails on substantial issues of the framework for a solution to
\nthe East Timor issue had been discussed.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-timor-talks-posponed-due-to-the-un-reshuffle-1447893297",
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