No special autonomy for East Timor: Alatas<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas rejected
\nyesterday South African President Nelson Mandela's call to award
\nspecial autonomy to East Timor to end prolonged conflict over the
\nterritory.<\/p>\n
\"The idea of granting special autonomy regional status for
\nEast Timor is one that can neither be implemented nor accepted by
\nIndonesia for various reasons,\" Alatas said after meeting with
\nPresident Soeharto at Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana in
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
After meeting with Nobel Prize laureate Dili Bishop Carlos
\nFilipe Ximenes Belo of East Timor in Johannesburg on Tuesday,
\nMandela urged Indonesia to give more opportunity for East
\nTimorese to govern themselves.<\/p>\n
Mandela said that during his visit to Indonesia in July, he
\nhad conveyed to President Soeharto that \"autonomy should be given
\nto the people of East Timor\".<\/p>\n
During his visit, Mandela met with jailed East Timorese rebel
\nleader Jose Alexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao. Xanana is currently
\nserving a reduced 20-year jail sentence in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Soeharto agreed to Mandela's offer to assist Indonesia in
\nfinding an international solution to the province. However,
\nIndonesian officials insisted that the initiative would be
\nstrictly based on \"quiet diplomacy\".<\/p>\n
Jakarta was upset when Mandela's letter to Soeharto was
\n\"leaked\" to the Portuguese Embassy in Pretoria. In the letter
\nMandela urged Soeharto to release Xanana, a request refused by
\nJakarta because it regarded Xanana as a criminal.<\/p>\n
Alatas remarked that East Timor already enjoyed autonomy along
\nwith other regions, and that the government was willing to look
\nat what it could do to give greater autonomy to the province.<\/p>\n
\"The concept of autonomy must be based on prevailing laws,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
East Timor integrated into Indonesia in 1976, after Portugal
\nabandoned it in 1974. But the United Nations still regards Lisbon
\nas East Timor's administrative power.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia has never and will never consider special autonomy
\nfor East Timor,\" Alatas added.<\/p>\n
Alatas met with Soeharto yesterday to report about his planned
\ntrip to Venezuela and Cuba before attending the UN General
\nAssembly meeting in New York.<\/p>\n
\"In Venezuela we will sign a special cooperation agreement
\nbetween Antara news agency and the Venezuelan news agency, while
\nin Cuba, a bilateral agreement on mutual consultations,\" said
\nAlatas who will be leaving on Sept. 12.<\/p>\n
While in New York, Alatas will meet with Ung Huot, who was
\nrecently elected as Cambodian first prime minister. (prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-special-autonomy-for-east-timor-alatas-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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