RI welcomes Ramos Horta in E. Timor dialog<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia yesterday opened the door for
\nseparatist leader Ramos Horta to participate in the planned
\nUnited Nations-sponsored reconciliation dialogs between opposing
\nEast Timorese factions.<\/p>\n
\"Ramos Horta, or any other East Timorese figure, can
\nparticipate in the dialog,\" Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali
\nAlatas told journalists yesterday.<\/p>\n
However, he warned that Horta's participation must comply with
\nthe terms set during the recent trilateral meeting between
\nIndonesia, Portugal and the UN.<\/p>\n
Following a meeting with President Soeharto at his residence
\non Jl. Cendana, Alatas yesterday asserted that the dialog must
\nnot become an alternative track to the ongoing negotiations
\nbetween Jakarta and Lisbon.<\/p>\n
The fifth set of trilateral talks between Alatas and his
\nPortuguese counterpart Jose Manuel Durao Barroso was held in
\nGeneva last Monday under the aegis of UN Secretary-General
\nBoutros Boutros-Ghali.<\/p>\n
The one-day meeting agreed that the UN would facilitate an
\nextension of meetings between the Timorese people on both sides
\nof the integration debate.<\/p>\n
Both Jakarta and Lisbon agreed that the planned meeting should
\nrefrain from discussing East Timor's political status,
\nconcentrating on reconciliation and creating a conducive
\natmosphere for finding a solution to the issue.<\/p>\n
The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated into
\nIndonesia in 1976. Nevertheless Portugal and its allies persist
\nin their opposition and refuse to recognize East Timor's status
\nas Indonesia's 27th province.<\/p>\n
In Lisbon, Ramos Horta gave a sterile reaction to suggestions
\nthat he might participate in the dialog and refused to signal
\nwhether he would participate.<\/p>\n
\"I neither accept nor refuse,\" Horta said in a radio interview
\nquoted by Reuters.<\/p>\n
Ramos Horta, currently undergoing self-exile in Australia as
\nthe leader of the East Timor separatist movement, has repeatedly
\nlaunched campaigns against Indonesia and demanded independence of
\nthe province.<\/p>\n
Commenting on Horta's possible participation, a senior East
\nTimorese pro-integration politician, Lopez da Cruz, told The
\nJakarta Post here yesterday that he welcomed the idea as long as
\nthe separatist leader complied with the terms set for the dialog.<\/p>\n
\"If his intentions are noble, if he truly seeks the truth, he
\nwill exercise restraint and come to hear our arguments,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Last year, Lopez headed two exchanges in London with anti-
\nintegration East Timorese led by Abilio Araujo. \"The UN's
\nproposal is in line with the London meetings we have been
\nhaving,\" he said.<\/p>\n
When asked when he expected the UN-sponsored dialog would
\noccur, Lopez said that a date had been designated, and he hoped
\nthat it would take place before the next round of meetings
\nbetween Alatas and Barroso on May 19 in New York.<\/p>\n
\"That would make the secretary-general happy since the dialog
\nwas his idea,\" Lopez remarked.<\/p>\n
Another pro-integration figure, Mariano Lopez da Cruz, in the
\ntown of Baucau, East Timor, also welcomed a dialog between the
\nopposing groups.<\/p>\n
\"As long as the dialog discusses the East Timor issue outside
\nof the political context,\" Mariano told Antara.<\/p>\n
He added that the question of integration was really a non-
\nissue for the East Timorese in the province since they had
\naccepted integration.<\/p>\n
\"History has proven that through the existence of the Balibo
\nDeclaration,\" he said in reference to the 1974 document, which
\nattested to the East Timorese's desire to integrate with
\nIndonesia. (mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-welcomes-ramos-horta-in-e-timor-dialog-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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