Evans comes under fire for RI envoy's retreat<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (Agencies): Foreign Minister Gareth Evans came under
\nsharp fire in the press here yesterday for his role in
\nIndonesia's retreat on the appointment of Indonesian Lt. Gen.
\nHerman Mantiri as ambassador designate.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas withdrew Mantiri as its
\nnominee on Thursday after a furor had erupted in Australia over
\nthe general's 1992 comment on the November 1991 Dili incident in
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
General retreat blared the front-page headline of the tabloid
\nDaily Telegraph Mirror. The Australian's headline was Mantiri:
\nAngry Jakarta retreats and The Sydney Morning Herald said Jakarta
\nbacks down.<\/p>\n
Mantiri's appointment drew widespread criticism because of
\ncomments he made about the Dili incident in which Indonesian
\ntroops clashed with East Timorese mourners, leaving 50 people
\ndead at Santa Cruz cemetery.<\/p>\n
\"We don't regret anything. What happened was quite proper,\" he
\nwas quoted as saying in a 1992 magazine interview. Mantiri, then
\nhead of the military command which includes East Timor, later
\nsaid he had been misquoted.<\/p>\n
Describing the \"debacle\" as the absolute low point in Evans'
\ncareer, The Australian's foreign editor Greg Sheridan wrote, \"It
\nis one of the worst-handled, most maladroit and damaging episodes
\nin Australian diplomacy in several years.\"<\/p>\n
Sheridan said Australia failed to tell Indonesia in advance
\nthat the appointment was unacceptable and then \"the government
\nscuttled for cover at the first whiff of grapeshot in Australian
\ndomestic politics.\"<\/p>\n
The Australian newspaper applauded Jakarta's tact and skill
\nand said Canberra looked \"unusually clumsy\".<\/p>\n
The Sydney Morning Herald's Asian Editor and Indonesian expert
\nDavid Jenkins said the withdrawal of Mantiri \"was a wise and
\nwell-timed move.\"<\/p>\n
Newspapers said Alatas' decision to leave the ambassadorial
\nposition temporarily vacant was a diplomatic signal of annoyance.<\/p>\n
Melbourne's The Age newspaper said in a commentary yesterday:<\/p>\n
\"The general's decision to pull out has reduced Indonesian-
\nAustralian relations to a shambles, driving them to their lowest
\npoint\" since the Dili incident, it said, adding that \"Canberra
\nand Jakarta badly misread and mismanaged the general's
\nappointment.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, news report from Canberra said yesterday that
\nDefense Minister Rober Ray had denied suggestions that
\nAustralia's top officer had encouraged Mantiri in his bid to be
\nIndonesia's ambassador here.<\/p>\n
Gen. John Baker, who became Australia's Chief of Defense Force
\nyesterday, telephoned Mantiri this week and press reports said he
\nhad congratulated the Indonesian officer on his diplomatic
\nappointment.<\/p>\n
\"I'm always very reluctant to reveal the details of a private
\ntelephone conversation, but I will make an exception on this
\noccasion,\" Ray told the Australian Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Ray said the two officers were friends, having developed a
\nclose relationship over the years.<\/p>",
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