Belo thanks Soeharto for his understanding

By Lela E. Madjiah

OSLO (JP): Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo thanked President Soeharto yesterday for showing understanding toward his difficult position in receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

"I am aware that I have been focusing on my role as Dili bishop, as the religious leader of the people of East Timor," the head of the East Timor Roman Catholic Church said.

He admitted he had not paid enough attention to his status as an Indonesian citizen.

"I thank President Soeharto for understanding this," he said in an interview with Merdeka daily, the recording of which was made available to The Jakarta Post.

Bishop Belo shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with self-exiled East Timor separatist spokesman Jose Ramos Horta.

The Indonesian government has accepted the decision to award the prize to Belo, but questioned the reason for selecting Ramos Horta given his violent past and his relentless attempts to undermine negotiations to settle the conflict in East Timor.

Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman Wednesday praised Bishop Belo for restricting his Nobel acceptance speech to religious matters, and said he hoped to meet with the Nobel laureate on his return.

Belo said he would be happy to meet with Soesilo but he would have to find the appropriate time given his busy schedule these coming weeks.

"I'll meet him in Jakarta if not Bali. But preferably Dili," he said.

Meanwhile, a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said he did not expect governments to accept its decisions all the time.

"Governments usually resent the committee's choices. Even our government does not always agree with our decisions," Gunnar Stalsett told The Jakarta Post Wednesday.

Stalsett, rector of the Practical Theology Seminary, University of Oslo, described the Indonesian reaction to the selection of Ramos Horta as normal.

Stalsett said he had never been to East Timor and could not say whether any of the other four committee members ever had.

This, however, did not prevent them from selecting the two East Timorese as this year's winners, he said.

"It is not necessary to be there. The committee's judgment on candidates is based on documents, reports and research.

"We have a vast library here and we conduct research," he said.

Stalsett said he believed in the authenticity of the documents.

"The committee has ways to verify all the documents and reports on its candidates," he said.

Meanwhile Indonesian Ambassador to Norway Amiruddin Noor said relations between Indonesia and Norway remain strong in spite of the Nobel affair.

"Trade between the two countries, for example, remains unaffected," Amiruddin told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

"Norwegian businessmen, particularly those who have been to Indonesia, like doing business with Indonesia," he said.

Besides booming bilateral trade, there is a growing presence of Norwegian investors in Indonesia.

The ambassador dismissed as baseless Portugal's claim that a contract between the Indonesian government and a Norwegian company to explore for oil near East Timor was illegal.

He said Lisbon's call to have the contract annulled amounted to interference in Indonesian domestic affairs.