Boutro-Ghali proposes to expand Timor talks

Boutro-Ghali proposes to expand Timor talks

GENEVA (Agencies): Portugal and Indonesia yesterday agreed to
a United Nations proposal to widen their talks on the future of
East Timor by involving rival Timorese factions.

A spokeswoman for United Nations Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali said the offer was made in a meeting between him
and the Portuguese and Indonesian foreign ministers.

Portugal's Jose Manuel Durao Barroso and Indonesia's Ali
Alatas held a one-hour meeting chaired by Boutros-Ghali then had
a working lunch, spokeswoman Therese Gastaut said.

In a statement read to reporters, Gastaut said Boutros-Ghali
told the ministers he wanted to encourage dialog among the
Timorese themselves and would explore how that could be done,
Reuters reported.

She added: "The foreign ministers of Portugal and Indonesia
informed the secretary-general of their readiness to meet with
leading East Timorese supporters and opponents of integration
respectively."

The meeting yesterday followed three rounds of "confidence
building measures" talks between the three parties in their
effort to bring the East Timor question to an end once and for
all.

The two foreign ministers last met in New York in September,
where they agreed to take confidence-building measures,
especially over human rights.

The two will meet again next January in Geneva, before which
time Boutros-Ghali was expected to identify "possible avenues
towards achieving a just, comprehensive and internationally
acceptable solution".

Durao Barroso welcomed the decision to open a full dialogue
with the Timorese, a dialogue which he said both sides had always
avoided so as not to give legitimacy to their opponents. He said
he would, if asked, speak to Timorese who support the territory's
integration into Indonesia.

Indonesian minister Alatas appeared less enthusiastic about
the talks, telling reporters afterwards only that "some progress"
had been made.