Soeharto plays down Dili riots<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has dismissed the weekend
\nriots in East Timor as bearing no relation whatsoever to the
\nquestion of the territory's integration into Indonesia.<\/p>\n
At a meeting with American Ambassador to the United Nations
\nMadeleine K. Albright yesterday in which the recent incident in
\nEast Timor was raised, Soeharto reportedly said that the riots
\nwere \"not political.\"<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, who was present at the
\nmeeting at the Merdeka Palace, told reporters later that the
\nriots were \"SARA\" in nature.<\/p>\n
The term is the Indonesian acronym for issues considered by
\nthe government to be potentially divisive: ethnicity, religion,
\nrace, and social group.<\/p>\n
Dili, the capital of East Timor and the site of the worst
\nriots, was calmer yesterday although it remained tense, according
\nto residents.<\/p>\n
The riots were launched by a group of young East Timorese, and
\ntheir targets were immigrants from outside East Timor. Smaller
\nriots also took place in other towns in the province.<\/p>\n
There were no casualties in the riots, according to the
\ngovernment, but several people, including police and military
\npersonnel, were taken to hospital with injuries. Dili's Komoro
\nmarket was gutted, cars were smashed and overturned, and migrants
\nsaid they were harassed if they ventured out of their homes.<\/p>\n
Most of the people detained for questioning in connection with
\nthe riots have been released, according to police in Dili.<\/p>\n
\"We regret that a ruckus occurred there, but as already
\nexplained by the proper authorities, this issue is SARA and is
\nnot political,\" Alatas told reporters.<\/p>\n
Given Indonesia's size and diversity, such incidents could
\noccur anywhere, he said.<\/p>\n
During the meeting with Albright, the President spoke of the
\ngovernment's policies in the former Portuguese colony, including
\nthe current withdrawal of two Army battalions from the territory.<\/p>\n
Earlier reports said the riots were triggered by offensive
\nremarks about Roman Catholicism, the dominant religion in East
\nTimor, on the part of an official of the local office of the
\nministry of justice at Maliana prison near Dili.<\/p>\n
The remarks, said to have been made last Monday, were
\nreportedly heard by prison wardens and inmates, with the news
\nspreading beyond the prison's walls and angering the East
\nTimorese. The official, identified as Sanusi Abubakar, is
\ncurrently in police detention.<\/p>\n
Albright told the press after a number of meetings with
\nIndonesian officials that the East Timor question is important to
\nAmericans.<\/p>\n
\"The situation in East Timor is something of interest to the
\nUnited States government as well as to the American people, and I
\nhave generally spoken about the importance we attach to some
\nresolutions of the issue,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She added that Washington supports the current talks between
\nIndonesia and Portugal, the former colonial ruler of East Timor,
\nto settle the question of East Timor's sovereignty.<\/p>\n
The talks are continuing under the auspices of UN Secretary-
\nGeneral Boutros Boutros-Ghali.<\/p>\n
Albright said she had \"commended President Soeharto on some of
\nthe actions that he has taken to improve the economic situation
\n(in East Timor), but also did say that we considered it very
\nimportant for progress to be made on the subject.\"<\/p>\n
Albright stressed the need for further improvements, in both
\neconomic and human rights conditions, in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Alatas expressed a hope that the Dili incidents last week
\nwould not cause further trouble on the international scene.
\n\"Hopefully the people involved in exploiting the issue have been
\nidentified and will be investigated through legal procedures,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Appeals for calm and restraint have come from the military as
\nwell as Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Belo, the head of the Roman
\nCatholic Church in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Governor Abilio Jose Osoria Soares called an
\nassembly of all employees of the provincial administration and
\nreminded them of their responsibility to maintain order.<\/p>\n
He also told his staff that he would punish anyone who took
\npart in the riots.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, the secretary-general of the ministry of religious
\naffairs, Ahmad Ghozali, said the Ministry has asked the
\ndirectorate general of Catholic community guidance to follow up
\non the reports of the riots.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the Indonesian Ulemas Council, Hasan Basri,
\nhas also called for the formation of a fact-finding team to look
\ninto the riots. (mds\/yac\/anr)<\/p>\n
Editorial -- Page 4<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soeharto-plays-down-dili-riots-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }