Annan hails Megawati's decision on Dili trip
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan hailed on Friday President Megawati Soekarnoputri's decision to attend East Timor's independence declaration and Indonesia's willingness to forget the past.
"I thanked her for her conciliatory, wise and courageous decision to go to East Timor," Annan said in a joint statement that followed the plenary meeting at the State Palace.
"I think it is a firm indication that we have decided to put the past behind us and look to the future."
Megawati will make a landmark visit to Dili, albeit only for four hours, to witness Annan hand over UN authority to president- elect Xanana Gusmao in a ceremony to take place at midnight on Sunday. Dignitaries attending the event will include former U.S. president Bill Clinton, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres.
Domestic criticism has come from, among other sources, the House of Representatives, despite the People's Consultative Assembly decree issued in 1999 accepting the separation of East Timor from Indonesia.
In a bid to ease resentment over her visit, Megawati plans to discuss Indonesian assets left in the former Indonesian province and visit the Seroja Indonesian heroes cemetery in Dili.
During her meeting with Annan on Friday, Megawati personally confirmed her proposed attendance at the celebrations in Dili.
Annan is scheduled to hold talks with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda before heading to Dili on Saturday.
Hassan said the human rights trial now under way in Jakarta was not specifically discussed at the plenary meeting on Friday.
However, Annan renewed the UN's pledge to assist Indonesia in the tribunal by offering technical assistance, such as workshops for Indonesian ad hoc judges, and by sending observers.
Hassan said the government welcomed the pledges.
"Our courts are open to observers from both local and overseas," Hassan said.
In his previous visit here in 2000, Annan said that Jakarta should be given a chance to punish those responsible for the mayhem in East Timor in 1999. But he warned that the Security Council might decide to sanction its own inquiry if Indonesia's response were unsatisfactory.
In the meeting, Indonesia also voiced concern over the "double standards" applied by the UN in dealing with Israeli attacks on Palestine recently.
"We conveyed our great concern over Palestine ... in line with our Constitution, which suggests that Indonesia support Palestine's struggle for freedom," Hassan said.
Indonesia incorporated East Timor into its territory for 24 years from 1975, after it had been colonized by the Portuguese for centuries.
East Timor voted for independence in a UN-organized referendum in 1999. The result of the vote sparked violence that was blamed on pro-Jakarta militias and the Indonesian Military (TNI).
The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) then took over the running of the province.