Abilio apologizes to nation

Abilio apologizes to nation

JAKARTA (JP): East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares
yesterday apologized to the nation for the behavior of a group of
East Timorese who staged a protest at the American embassy just
as Indonesia was to host a major international event last week.

"On behalf of the people of East Timor, I apologize to the
nation, and to President Soeharto, because their behavior has
tainted the nation," Abilio told reporters after meeting with the
head of state at the State Palace.

"At a time when we are hosting an international event, they
should have upheld the good name of Indonesia," he said in
reference to last week's meeting of 18 leaders of the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Twenty-nine East Timorese scaled the American embassy fence on
Nov. 12 and vowed to stage a sit-in until their demands were met.

One of them fell ill on Sunday and was later admitted to a
hospital.

Portugal

The other 28 were still at the embassy's parking lot as of
yesterday though a solution seemed imminent. The students have
announced that they want to go to Portugal, which ruled East
Timor for over four centuries until 1975.

The group's spokesman said they were going to Portugal not as
asylum seekers but as Portuguese citizens. Portugal had offered
them asylum earlier. It was not immediately clear, however, how
and when they will leave for Portugal.

Portuguese interests in Indonesia are looked after by the
Netherlands embassy in the absence of diplomatic relations
between the two countries. The U.S. embassy yesterday was
preparing the travel documents for the protesters with the local
office of the International Red Cross.

On a separate occasion, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas
yesterday said the government had done all it could in trying to
resolve the embassy occupation.

"It is not our problem. They're in American territory," Alatas
said after reporting to President Soeharto, also at the State
Palace. "We've given our word that they will not be touched if
they leave. If they want to leave the country, we won't stop
them. What else can we do?"

He said the protesters were making unrealistic demands, such
as the release of Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao who is serving a
17-year jail term for heading an armed rebellion in East Timor.

Lowest level

Asked whether the government was communicating with the
protesters, he said yes, "at the very lowest level".

The protesters demanded to see either U.S. President Bill
Clinton or Secretary of State Warren Christopher, both in town
last week for the APEC meeting. Later, they wanted to see Alatas.

"What's the purpose of asking to speak with a foreign
minister? They're not that important. They've had dialog with
Lopez da Cruz, and as if that wasn't enough, they've had dialog
with members of the National Commission on Human Rights," Alatas
said. Lopez is a respected senior East Timor politician who has
been appointed as ambassador-at-large on East Timor issues.

Abilio said most of the protesters are "tramps", perhaps two
or three are students but they never attended classes, he said.

"Most of them are laborers who didn't make it at school, got
frustrated and then escaped to the cheap world of politics."

The few students who took part in the demonstration are acting
irresponsibly because they have been given an opportunity to
study but instead turned their back on the nation, he added.

Alatas said these youths had been treated well, given
scholarships and various other facilities. "I don't understand
why they're doing this."

Journalists

Both Abilio and Alatas joined in the growing chorus of
criticism of foreign journalists for provoking the minority of
those East Timorese who oppose their integration with Indonesia,
either in Jakarta or in Dili

"I don't mean to accuse all foreign journalists, but some of
have incited the East Timorese people to act out," Alatas said.

They, he added, were conducting activities totally unconnected
to journalism by twisting the facts and further inflaming the
situation in East Timor.

About 30 journalists who were covering the APEC meeting
extended their stay to visit East Timor last week, during which
they saw three days of violence in Dili and an anti-government
demonstration at the city's Roman Catholic cathedral.

The East Timor military has deported four journalists, one of
them found to be carrying banners which were used by the
demonstrators. The other three had sneaked into East Timor
without notifying the authorities in Jakarta.

Abilio said one of the journalists helped bring in the banners
into the cathedral and then handed them over to the protesters.

He said the authorities are now investigating the source of
the banners, whether they were made locally in East Timor or had
been brought in by the journalists. (emb/mas)