Alatas holds meeting with E. Timor activists

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas on Thursday met and discussed solutions to all problems related to East Timor with both pro and anti-integration activists.

The meeting, organized in two separate sessions, was held behind closed doors at the Patra Jasa Hotel in the Balinese capital of Denpasar,

The first session in the morning was with 19 activists known for their opposition to East Timor's integration into Indonesia and their demand for a referendum on the province's future, while the second session in the afternoon was with 39 activists who supported the integration and the government's autonomy proposals for the territory.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Alatas said Indonesia had the opportunity to settle the 23-year-long East Timor dispute once and for all.

"But we need to compromise to get an acceptable solution to the East Timor problems," he said as quoted by Antara.

"It will be difficult to reach a resolution if any of the parties involved -- the East Timorese, the Portuguese government, or the Indonesian government -- maintains its rigid stance," he added.

He said that not all the East Timorese had a complete understanding of the Indonesian government's proposals to resolve the problems and called on the pro-referendum activists to take a careful look at the Indonesian government-initiated concept for greater autonomy for East Timor.

"They should not have objected to the concept while they were still unsure and did not understand it."

"They should realize that greater autonomy for East Timor is the best alternative for all the problems," he said.

Alatas considered that the meeting was positive and brought new hope for a settlement of the East Timor issue.

"Views and concepts from both pro-referendum and pro-autonomy groups will be considered as inputs for the settlement of the problems," he said. (imn)