A compromise on East Timor?

A compromise on East Timor?

Indonesian President B.J. Habibie's offer on East Timor is a
dramatic leap for Jakarta to take but one that falls short of
meeting the demands of the East Timorese themselves. Habibie says
he is prepared to release the resistance leader Xanana Gusmao
from prison immediately, to order a troop withdrawal from East
Timor and to grant wide powers of autonomy to the territory. The
price: international recognition of Indonesia's 1976 annexation
of East Timor. Gusmao has rejected the offer, saying that there
won't be a solution without a referendum on full independence.
The question now is whether these two inflexible positions can be
massaged into a compromise acceptable to all sides.

-- The Sydney Morning Herald