Alatas' refusal of Gama's visit endorsed

JAKARTA (JP): A senior East Timorese leader said yesterday that he backs Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, who has rejected his Portuguese counterpart's demand to meet an East Timorese separatist leader jailed in Jakarta.

Samuel Alex Petruz said that not allowing Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama to meet with Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao was "appropriate".

"Coming to Indonesia solely to see Xanana would amount to interference in Indonesia's internal affairs," said Alex, deputy chief of the East Timor Provincial legislative council.

He charged that Gama's motive was to attract foreign mass media attention but that it would in no way help solve the East Timor question.

"In fact, it could complicate the problem further," Alex was quoted by Antara as saying. "I can't see any advantage to such a visit."

Gama expressed his desire to visit Xanana during a tripartite meeting with his Indonesian counterpart in Geneva last week. The talks, now in their eighth round, have been organized to help find an internationally acceptable solution to the East Timor issue.

Xanana has been serving a 20-year sentence in a Jakarta prison since 1993.

Gama insisted that Indonesia would eventually have to consent to the release of East Timor's political prisoners if the issue is to be resolved.

Alatas said Indonesia was ready to consider a visit by Gama, but only to discuss the future of East Timor and not if it is solely to meet with Xanana.

"Is it proper for a foreign minister to visit a country solely for the purpose of meeting a prisoner?" he asked.

It would have been different if Gama had stated that he wished to visit Jakarta to discuss something with the Indonesian government, and that during the visit he intended to meet Xanana, Alatas said.

Apart from proposing the meeting, Gama also suggested that talks between East Timorese on both sides of the issue be held in alternate locations such as Jakarta, Lisbon and possibly Dili, the capital of East Timor.

Samuel later added that the tripartite meeting between Indonesia and Portugal sponsored by United Nations Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali have made some progress.

Samuel said that Gama's suggestion that talks be held in Portugal could be approved if Portugal can meet Indonesia's conditions.

"We had a bad experience when an East Timor delegation visited Portugal several years ago, they were welcomed with brutality," Samuel said.

The ninth round of talks will be held in New York on Dec. 21, a month earlier than scheduled. (31)