Little progress made at Geneva East Timor talks<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The eighth meeting between Indonesian and
\nPortuguese foreign ministers under the auspices of the United
\nNations Secretary-General ended in Geneva on Thursday, with
\nlittle headway in resolving the East Timor question.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said in a
\nnews conference yesterday following the meeting that progress had
\nbeen slow, although details on substantial issues of the
\nframework for a solution to the East Timor issue had been
\ndiscussed.<\/p>\n
The one-day talks were a continuation of meetings sponsored by
\nthe UN Secretary-General in an attempt to find an internationally
\nacceptable solution to the East Timor issue.<\/p>\n
The seventh round of talks were held in London in January.<\/p>\n
The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as
\npart of Indonesia in 1976. Nevertheless, the UN still regards
\nLisbon as the administrative power there.<\/p>\n
As reported by Antara from Geneva yesterday, the ninth round
\nof talks between Alatas and his Portuguese counterpart, Jaime
\nGama, will be held in New York on Dec. 21.<\/p>\n
Both foreign ministers also positively welcomed the Secretary-
\nGeneral's proposals to organize another All-Inclusive Intra-East
\nTimor Dialog.<\/p>\n
The dialog brings together Timorese on both sides of the
\nintegration debate. Two dialog sessions have been held, the last
\none in Austria in March.<\/p>\n
However, Alatas questioned the benefit of possibly alternating
\nthe dialog between Lisbon and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Alatas said that given the current climate in relations, it
\nwould be best to hold the dialog in a neutral country, as
\nproposed by Gama.<\/p>\n
He then questioned whether the Portuguese government could
\nguarantee that the Indonesian delegation would be given a
\nfavorable reception, given a previous experience where an
\narriving delegation was met by a hostile demonstration.<\/p>\n
During their talks, the two ministers also touched on the
\npossibility of establishing an East Timorese cultural center.<\/p>\n
In his press conference, Alatas reasserted Indonesia's
\nobjection to a proposal to open interest sections in each others'
\nrespective capitals if it were tied with conditions for the
\nrelease of Timorese political prisoners.<\/p>\n
During the March summit meeting between European and Asian
\nleaders in Bangkok, Portuguese President Antonio Guterres
\napproached President Soeharto and suggested the possibility of
\nopening interest sections, provided that Jakarta released jailed
\nTimorese rebel Xanana Gusmao.<\/p>\n
Alatas on Thursday said Indonesia rejected such a proposal,
\noriginally put forth by the UN Secretary-General, on which
\nPortugal is now placing certain new conditionalities.<\/p>\n
Alatas further questioned the relevance of Gama's expressed
\nintention to visit Jakarta and meet with Xanana.<\/p>\n
\"We agreed to disagree about the visit,\" Alatas said(mds)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/little-progress-made-at-geneva-east-timor-talks-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }