East Timorese dialog historic event: Lopez<\/p>\n
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's East Timorese leader Lopez da Cruz
\nwas upbeat as he described the coming All Inclusive Intra-East
\nTimor dialog as a meeting of historic proportions.<\/p>\n
The meeting is meant to reconcile adverse political factions
\nfor the first time in 20 years.<\/p>\n
According to Lopez, the meeting planned for June 2 through
\nJune 6 in the quiet Austrian town of Burg Schlaining Schloss will
\nbe the first of its kind since the civil war in East Timor ended
\ntwo decades ago.<\/p>\n
Lopez said no specific agenda has been formulated for the
\nmeeting. The agenda will have to be decided through consensus on
\nboth sides.<\/p>\n
\"We could say that we want to explain about Pancasila or
\ndevelopment, but they might not be interested,\" he said, adding
\nthat the Indonesian Timorese will be gathering Monday evening in
\nDili to throw out initial ideas for discussion.<\/p>\n
Lopez emphasized that the discussion in Austria would not
\ninvolve trying to find political solutions to the East Timor
\nquestion.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's 1976 integration of East Timor is still
\nunrecognized by several countries which still consider Portugal
\nthe administrative power.<\/p>\n
Under the aegis of the UN secretary-general, Indonesian and
\nPortuguese foreign ministers have held periodic talks in a bid to
\nfind a solution to the matter. In January the ministers agreed to
\nhold a reconciliatory dialog with UN facilitation between the
\nEast Timorese who accept the integration and those who oppose it.<\/p>\n
The UN, without consultation, then made a list of 12 names of
\npeople from Indonesia and 14 from abroad to participate in the
\ndialog. This sparked the anger of East Timorese Indonesians and
\nprompted the postponement of an earlier date set for the meeting.<\/p>\n
After intense discussions in New York last month, the UN
\naccepted three more names to be added to the 12 already selected
\nby the UN.<\/p>\n
Those three are: Armindo Mariano Soares, the head of the
\ngovernment's Golkar faction in East Timor; Jose Piedade, chairman
\nof the National Committee of Indonesian Youth in East Timor, and
\nTarciso dos Reis Amaral, head of the bureau of for social and
\ncultural affairs.<\/p>\n
When asked about Indonesia's insistence that they be included,
\nLopez told The Jakarta Post that the policy was based on a matter
\nof principle.\"We do not want to be dictated to by the UN,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Lopez argued that it would be unfair if Indonesia, home to
\nmost of the East Timorese people, was represented by only 12
\npeople, while 14 represented the 15,000 East Timorese living in
\nAustralia and Portugal.<\/p>\n
Indonesia also approved former East Timor governor Guilherme
\nMaria Goncalves from an additional six names offered by the UN.<\/p>\n
Other names included on the list of 16 from Indonesia are East
\nTimor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares, author Joao Saldhana,
\nthe head of the provincial legislature Antonio Freitas Parada and
\nDili regent Domingos Soares.<\/p>\n
Although the list for Indonesia consists of several government
\nofficials, also included are two outspoken human rights critics,
\nBishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Florentino Sarmento.<\/p>\n
After speaking to Belo a day earlier, Lopez yesterday said the
\nBishop was enthusiastic about the dialog. \"When I asked the
\nBishop yesterday, he told me that he would only be carrying the
\ndoctrine of the church, peace and reconciliation.\"<\/p>\n
On the other side, the 12 participants from abroad represent
\nthe various anti-integration factions, such as Fretilin, Apodeti,
\nUDT and Kota, along with their splinter groups.<\/p>\n
The names included are Joao Viegas Carrascalao, Ramos Horta,
\nVincente da Silva Guterres, Jose Martins III, Manuel Tilman, A.
\nAraujo, Jaime Ximenes and Abilio Sereno.<\/p>\n
When asked whether jailed Fretilin rebel Xanana Gusmao had
\nbeen invited, Lopez said that some considered this a possibility
\nduring the meeting in January, but Minister of Foreign Affairs
\nAli Alatas explained that Xanana's participation would be
\nimpossible because he is still serving time.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Dili, a group of university students has
\npetitioned UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to include
\nXanana in the dialog.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-timorese-dialog-historic-event-lopez-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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