Australia wants envoy without E. Timor links
Australia wants envoy without E. Timor links
SYDNEY (Agencies): The Australian government wants Indonesia's
next ambassador to Australia to have had no involvement in
actions in East Timor which could be considered "distasteful",
Foreign Minister Gareth Evans said yesterday.
"The main point is just to ensure that it's someone who hasn't
got any kind of track record of either involvement in or support
for actions in East Timor or elsewhere that are obviously
distasteful," Evans said in a television interview, Reuter
reported.
Indonesia withdrew retired Lt. Gen. H.B.L. Mantiri's
nomination as ambassador to Australia in early July following
protests here over Mantiri's initial refusal to apologize for
comments in support of the 1991 incident in Dili, East Timor.
Mantiri's nomination met with strong opposition in Australia
for his remarks in a 1992 interview with the now defunct Editor
magazine, in which he reportedly said that the military's action
in a bloody demonstration at the Santa Cruz cemetery was "quite
proper".
Evans said Australia would prefer a civilian for the post, but
the main criterion was the nominee's record on the former
Portuguese colony of East Timor, which integrated with Indonesia
in 1976.
But Evans said ties with his Indonesian counterpart, Ali
Alatas, remained strong despite controversy over Mantiri.
Since troops shot dead about 50 demonstrators in a Dili
cemetery in late 1991, East Timor has remained a major focus of
rights groups.
"Obviously it was a difficult time, the Mantiri one, for both
of us," Evans said.
"But the relationship with Indonesia is so strong at so many
different levels now that, as Alatas and I have been saying for
so long, we can handle squalls of this kind in an intelligent
way," he said.
Mantiri was originally to replace Sabam Siagian, who ended his
term last month.
Announcing Mantiri's nomination on July 6, Alatas said, "After
carefully monitoring the situation, the Indonesian government is
of the view that the furor has become irrational in nature and
entirely out of proportion."
Jakarta has left the ambassadorial post in Canberra vacant.
The day-to-day job is currently being tackled by the Indonesian
charge d'affaires, Zakaria Suminta Atmadja.