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.