Indonesia welcomes Mandela's offer on E. Timor<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia welcomed yesterday Nelson Mandela's
\noffer to help with the United Nations' efforts to find a peaceful
\nsettlement to the question of East Timor.<\/p>\n
Ghaffar Fadyl, chief spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign
\nAffairs, said however that any role that the South African
\npresident played in the East Timor issue must be informal.<\/p>\n
"Mandela's offer of assistance was a positive idea," Ghaffar
\ntold The Jakarta Post by phone.<\/p>\n
"The offer should be in the framework of the tripartite
\ndialog," he said, referring to the series of meetings Indonesia
\nand Portugal have held under the auspices of the UN Secretary
\nGeneral.<\/p>\n
In the latest attempt to step up his East Timor initiative,
\nMandela today is scheduled to meet with Portuguese President
\nJorge Sampaio of Portugal in Pretoria, according to Reuters.
\nSampaio would be accompanied by his foreign minister Jaime Gama.<\/p>\n
The lunch-time meeting will take place at Mandela's private
\nresidence.<\/p>\n
Mandela visited Jakarta this month during which he met with
\nPresident Soeharto, and also with Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao,
\nwho is serving a 20-year jail term for leading an armed rebellion
\nfor a separate East Timor state.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Mandela saw Jose Ramos Horta, the exiled East Timor
\nseparatist leader, in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Fransisco Xavier Lopez da Cruz, East Timor's senior politician
\nand a staunch supporter of integration with Indonesia, was
\npresent when Mandela met with Xanana in Jakarta to give his side
\nof the story.<\/p>\n
Lopez had welcomed Mandela's initiative, stressing also that
\nthe UN-sponsored dialog must remain the chief forum to settle the
\nEast Timor problem.<\/p>\n
Lopez, Indonesia's ambassador-at-large on East Timor affairs,
\nyesterday denied a Portuguese press report claiming that Mandela,
\nwhile in Jakarta, had called for Xanana's release.<\/p>\n
He said the matter was not discussed during the meeting, and
\nhe believed that it did not surface either when Mandela met with
\nPresident Soeharto.<\/p>\n
"Mandela could not have asked the Indonesian government to
\nrelease Xanana because he was convicted for a crime. He is not a
\npolitical prisoner," Lopez argued.<\/p>\n
"If we have to free him, then we should also release other
\ncriminals," he said.<\/p>\n
Other Indonesian officials were not available to comment on
\nthe report printed last weekend by the Portuguese newspaper
\nExpresso.<\/p>\n
Mandela announced his East Timor initiative on Friday,
\nstressing that he intended to assist, and not undermine, UN
\nSecretary General Koffi Annan's efforts.<\/p>\n
The tripartite dialogs moved one little step further last
\nmonth when the foreign ministers of Indonesia and Portugal agreed
\nto arrange for a lower-level meeting to discuss technical
\ndetails.<\/p>\n
On Monday, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard announced that Annan was
\nsending Jamsheed Marker, his special representative for East
\nTimor, to South Africa for talks with Mandela.<\/p>\n
Mandela had briefed Annan on his encounter with Xanana and the
\nUN chief "welcomes the efforts" by the South African president,
\nEckhard said. (10)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-welcomes-mandelas-offer-on-e-timor-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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