Australia accepts new RI envoy
Australia accepts new RI envoy
CANBERRA (Agencies): Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, while accepting the appointment of an Indonesian general as Jakarta's next ambassador, said yesterday that the general may soon have to explain some of the remarks he purportedly made about an incident in East Timor four years ago.
Evans, in comments widely reported by the Australian press yesterday, said however that Canberra did not see any reason to refuse Jakarta's appointment Lt. Gen. (ret.) H.B.L. Mantiri as Indonesia's next ambassador, according to Antara.
"He's fully qualified for the post," Evans was quoted by Antara as telling reporters yesterday.
Mantiri had no personal involvement in the Dili incident and is "favorably known to many in Australia", especially in the area of defense, Evans said, noting that he was the personal choice of President Soeharto for the posting, Reuters reported.
The appointment of Mantiri to replace Ambassador Sabam Siagian has not been formally announced in Jakarta. Sabam, a former senior journalist, is scheduled to end his term in Canberra this month. Officials in Jakarta were not available yesterday for comment regarding the news about Mantiri.
Mantiri, 55, was appointed as chief of the Udayana Regional Military Command, which also oversees East Timor, not long after the bloody incident in the streets of Dili in November 1991.
The government maintains that around 50 people were killed in clashes between troops and East Timorese demonstrators, an incident that sparked an international furor, including most notably from Australia.
The Australian reprinted yesterday excerpts of an interview Mantiri gave to the Indonesian news magazine Editor in its July 1992 edition. Commenting on the Dili incident, Mantiri reportedly said, "We don't regret anything. What happened was quite proper," Antara said in a dispatch from the Australian capital.
Evans said however that unless Mantiri explained his statement, he would receive a great deal of questioning from the Australian media and public during his tenure here, AFP reported.
Evans was questioned about the nomination again during a Labor caucus meeting yesterday.
"He indicated that obviously there would be concerns and that he hoped the new ambassador would see fit to explain his earlier statements," a caucus spokeswoman said.